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24 July 2006 : Column 959W—continued
http://www.london2012.com
Since London was awarded the Games, these plans have been under development. The timing of final decisions on legacy use will vary from venue to venue because, among other things, of differences in the construction profile but key stakeholders will be consulted as part of the planning process for the Olympic Park, before any formal agreements are finalised.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans her Department has to involve women in the delivery of the 2012 Olympics. [88202]
Tessa Jowell: The Olympic Delivery Authority and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympics Games (LOCOG) are committed to diversity in the way they operate and engage with communities and groups. LOCOG, for instance, work with the Women's Resource Centre and the Women's Sports Foundation through their London 2012 Forum. My Department is working with the Department for Communities and Local Government (which has policy responsibility in Government for women's issues) to ensure that all sections of society have opportunities for involvement in the games. The Women and Equality Unit and the Equal Opportunities Commission have been involved in the development of this work and will help shape the final delivery plan. This work complements similar planning activity by the Greater London Authority to engage with a wide variety of London's diverse communities, including women.
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made against the objective of providing an ethical Olympic games in 2012; and if she will make a statement. [88209]
Mr. Caborn: The Olympic stakeholders are committed to an ethical Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2012 and a sustainable legacy for London and the UK. We are determined to ensure that local communities receive tangible benefit from the Games, particularly in the areas of local employment, affordable housing, training initiatives and education.
Initiatives are already under way to realise these objectives. For example, the Olympic Delivery Authority have recently published their draft Procurement Policy, which confirms their commitment to sustainability, health and safety and partnership working.
In addition, the London 2012 Employment and Skills Task Force (LEST), established by the Greater London Authority and the London Skills Commission, will deliver a collaborative business plan to identify and co-ordinate measures to support people in accessing direct and indirect employment opportunities arising from the hosting of the Games in 2012.
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what mechanisms are being put in place in the procurement process for the Olympics to ensure private companies comply with good employment practices. [88211]
Mr. Caborn: The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), which is responsible for delivering the infrastructure for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, places high importance on ensuring its ethical values are shared by potential contractors. Through the tendering process the ODA and its Delivery Partner will assess the commitment of bidders to these values, including their approach to good employment practices, training, recruitment, equalities and diversity. The ODA’s draft Procurement Policy, which was published on 19 July, states that it would like all employees of contractors and subcontractors working on ODA contracts to be on fair employment terms and conditions, such as the good practice guidance promulgated by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development.
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the project to bury the underground power lines at the Olympic Park; what lessons have been learned from the project; and if she will make a statement. [88222]
Mr. Caborn: During the Bid period the Government and the Mayor recognised that the timescale for undergrounding the powerlines was such that serious work needed to start in November 2005 if the project was to be completed within an acceptable timescale. Work was set in hand and the London Development Agency was ready to award the contract for undergrounding after we had won the Games. They will shortly transfer the project to the Olympic Delivery Authority. The initial contracts are working well and they expect the project to be completed in line with original targets.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by what (a) process and (b) criteria the Government and Sport England will allocate funds for improving Great Britain’s and Northern Ireland's potential medal performance in the 2012 Olympics between clubs and associations. [88247]
Mr. Caborn: All investment in medal potential for London 2012 is channelled through UK Sport, the Government's lead agency on high performance sport. UK Sport allocates Exchequer and Lottery funding solely through its World Class Pathway programme to the National Governing Bodies for Olympic and Paralympic sport, based on a range of factors including regular assessment of athlete performance at major international competitions. It is for those Governing Bodies to determine whether funding should then be provided for high performance sport through their clubs and associations.
Ministerial Meetings
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many properties (a) owned and (b) managed by the National Trust (i) she, (ii) the Minister for Sport, (iii) the Minister for Culture and (iv) the Minister for Media and Tourism have visited in an official capacity in the last five years. [87825]
Mr. Lammy: I have visited the new National Trust offices in Swindon as well as Tyntesfield, the Victorian House and estate near Bristol. My right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and the Minister for Sport and my hon. Friend the Minister for Media and Tourism have not yet had the opportunity to make official visits to properties owned or managed by the National Trust.
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she last met her Scottish counterpart; and what subjects were discussed. [88774]
Mr. Lammy: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State last met Patricia Ferguson on 2 November 2005 at Sports Cabinet. They discussed the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Glasgow’s bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games; Sport and Physical Activity; the Terms of Reference of the Sports Cabinet; our approach to hosting mega events; practical arrangements for future Sports Cabinet meetings; and the British Council’s ‘Dreams and Teams’ initiative.
Ministerial Office
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many times her ministerial office has been decorated in each of the last five years. [87653]
Mr. Lammy: In the last five years the ministerial office of the Secretary of State has been decorated twice—in 2002 and 2005. It will be redecorated again in the coming months as part of the refurbishment of the Department’s Cockspur Street headquarters building.
Museums
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what budget has been available to museums for acquisitions in each year since 1980. [87617]
Mr. Lammy: Museums have a number of sources of funding for acquisitions available to them. These include government funding (be it national or local), self generated income, private donations and grants available from bodies such as the Art Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund. We do not keep figures on each of the different funding streams available for all museums.
The Government do not ring-fence acquisition budgets for the cultural institutions that it sponsors. This ceased in 1992 and allows sponsored museums and galleries the freedom to choose how they spend their grant in aid. Overall grant in aid for directly sponsored national museums and galleries increased from £205.17 million in 1997-98 to £314.93 million in 2006-07.
We are aware of concerns relating to the level of funding museums and galleries have available for acquisitions. We will continue to engage with interested groups, and are always willing to listen to their ideas with regard to acquisitions.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate her Department has made of the percentage of revenue savings through efficiency savings required from museums in the next financial year. [87619]
Mr. Lammy: Museums and galleries participating in the DCMS efficiency project are required to make savings of 2.5 per cent. of their grant in aid per annum.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the change was in funding to museums in each year since 1997 (a) without taking inflation into account and (b) taking inflation into account. [87620]
Mr. Lammy: Tables giving details of increases in grant in aid to 17 DCMS sponsored museums since 1997 (a) without taking inflation into account and (b) taking inflation into account are in the following tables:
| Table A: Grant in aid allocated to 17 DCMS sponsored museums( 1) 1997-98 to 2007-08 | ||
| £ million( 2) | Percentage change | |
| (1) Covers DCMS funding allocated to 17 DCMS Sponsored museums. Excludes allocations to some smaller museums and DCMS funding streams open to museums and galleries such as Strategic Commissioning, and the DCMS/Wolfson Foundation Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund. (2) £ million not taking inflation into account. | ||
| Table B: Grant in aid (CiA) allocated to 17 DCMS sponsored museums( 1) 1997-98 to 2007-08 | ||
| £ million( 2) | Percentage change | |
| (1) Covers DCMS funding allocated to 17 DCMS Sponsored museums. Excludes allocations to some smaller museums and DCMS funding streams open to museums and galleries such as Strategic Commissioning, and the DCMS/Wolfson Foundation Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund. (2 )£ million taking inflation into account, using 1997 as base year | ||
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many visitors to publicly-funded museums in London there were in each year since 1997. [87777]
Mr. Lammy: The number of visits to museums and galleries in London funded directly by this Department in each year since 1997 are set out in the following table:
| Number of visits (million) | |
We do not hold visit data on the 67 London museums which are funded by the Ministry of Defence, local authorities, universities and the Greater London authority.
Obesity
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will bring forward proposals to require seating at venues open to the public to be increased in size to accommodate obese people; and if she will make a statement. [86953]
Mr. Caborn: The Health and Safety Executive publishes guidance on seating in The Event Safety Guide and guide to fire precautions in existing places of entertainment and like premises.
For sports grounds, there is no standard allocation of space for a seated person. However, my Department’s document Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds does provide guidance on minimum seat widths and seating row depths. The purpose of the document is to give guidance on how to calculate the safe capacity of a sports ground.
More broadly, my Department, along with the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills, is taking joint action to halt the year-on-year rise in obesity amongst children under 11, in the context of tackling obesity in the population as a whole.
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