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3 July 2006 : Column 722W—continued

Fixture Lists

Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if her Department will bring forward measures to ensure sports can gain copyright to their fixture lists as recommended by the Independent Sports Review. [81103]

Mr. Caborn: The first step following publication of the review is for all interested parties to consider its recommendations very carefully before deciding whether these should be implemented and, if so, how.

My officials and legal advisors are consulting with other Government Departments, the football authorities and other interested sporting bodies. I intend to respond formally to the review in September.

Football

Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department has made an assessment of the possible implications for English football of the European Court of Justice judgment in September 2004 on the use of databases. [81094]

Mr. Caborn: The professional football leagues report that the European Court of Justice ruling will cost them in excess of £6 million from lost income. The Government are working with the leagues to help them identify sources of replacement funding.

Gambling

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will strengthen regulations governing internet poker. [81457]

Mr. Caborn: Yes. The Gambling Act 2005 will regulate British-based internet gaming operators for the first time.

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will discuss with Ofcom increased regulation of the sponsorship of television programmes by gambling companies. [81458]


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Mr. Woodward: In relation to broadcasting, Parliament has given Ofcom the duty of setting standards for the sponsorship of radio and television programmes.

Under the Gambling Act 2005 Ofcom will continue to set, review and revise standards for the sponsoring of television programmes by gambling operators. I understand that Ofcom, the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice and the Gambling Commission are in discussion about the future regulation of this area to ensure consistent and appropriate standards across media.

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will discuss with the banking industry possible measures to tackle misuse of credit and debit cards by underage people on internet gambling websites. [81459]

Mr. Caborn: While the final responsibility for age verification rests with the online gambling industry, Ministers and officials have met several times with international financial institutions to discuss these issues. We will build on, and develop, these relationships to inform our international summit on remote gambling to explore the development of international standards on social responsibility.

We are also supportive of the efforts that the industry is making to engage the banking sector.

Global Positioning System

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with Ofcom regarding the licensing of global positioning system re-radiators. [81197]

Mr. Woodward [holding answer 29 June 2006]: No discussions have taken place with Ofcom regarding this issue. To date Ofcom has not licensed the use of GPS repeaters. However it is currently engaged on a project to examine the possibility of the legitimate use of this type of apparatus.

Golf

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether she plans to visit this year's Open Golf Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club. [81703]

Mr. Caborn: Neither my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State nor I have plans to visit this year's Open Golf Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in July.

I understand that this year's tournament will be the 135th Open and the 11th time the Club has hosted what is one of the greatest golf tournaments in the world. I wish all the competitors, in particular our British golfers, every success.


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Green and White Papers

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list in date order (a) Green and (b) White Papers produced by her Department since October 2005. [81272]

Mr. Lammy: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport produced a White Paper entitled “A Public Service for All: the BBC in the Digital Age” [Cm. 6763] on 14 March 2006.

Kingsbridge Amateur Theatrical Society

Mr. Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will attend a performance by the Kingsbridge Amateur Theatrical Society. [81373]

Mr. Lammy: Amateur theatre plays a unique role in the UK's cultural life and I recognise the importance of amateur groups such as the Kingsbridge Amateur Theatrical Society.

Arts Council England funds a number of organisations who support voluntary and community groups including the Voluntary Arts Network, which supports over 300 organisations across the country.

Neither the Secretary of State nor I have any plans to attend a performance by the group.

Libraries

Ann Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what support her Department is making available for library facilities for older people. [82434]

Mr. Lammy: Responsibility for the provision of day to day library services lies with the 149 library authorities in England. Emphasis may differ slightly from authority to authority but older people benefit from library services which are available to all library users. Services include silver surfer sessions, help with charges such as reservations and fines, services to the housebound and homes for the elderly and provision of materials in accessible formats.

People’s Network services funded through Framework for the Future strategy programme are of particular benefit including (i) ‘Enquire’ service, giving round the clock real-time access to advice from librarians and (ii) ‘Read’ service, an on-line tool for finding interesting books for individual readers. Both these services particularly benefit people who find difficulty in visiting their library.

Live Music

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps the Government are taking to support live music and encourage the participation of young people. [81375]


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Mr. Woodward: In 2004 we established the Live Music Forum to promote live performance. It has brokered the creation of music-making spaces for young people in Wrexham and in Camberwell, and is looking at ways of adapting and rolling out those models.

We also support young people's music making through the Music Manifesto and through the national charity Youth Music, with £10 million per year of National Lottery funding, which has reached over 1 million young people to date.

London Bombings

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which constituencies are home to survivors of the 7 July London bombings. [80464]

Tessa Jowell [holding answer 26 June 2006]: My Department holds full address details for 240 survivors of the London bombings. From that information, we believe these survivors live in the following constituencies:


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