| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
9 Oct 2006 : Column 41W—continued
Olympic Games
16. Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what support is being provided for towns wishing to participate in the 2012 Olympic Games. [92582]
Mr. Caborn: A Nations and Regions Group (NRG) has been established to provide leadership and strategic direction in ensuring that the whole of the UK is engaged with and benefits from the 2012 Games. Local authorities are represented on the working groups which, in each nation and region, are developing a delivery plan to ensure that these opportunities are realised.
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the Department plans to allow people to camp in public parks during the 2012 Olympic Games; and if she will make a statement. [89261]
Mr. Caborn: This has been one proposal for widening access to the 2012 Games that has been put forward within the Department in the context of the consultation that was launched on 19 July. We want to encourage the widest possible debate about how we might maximise all our valuable assets, while recognising that all proposals need to fit in with existing infrastructure and plans for the Games. But no decisions have been taken at this stage.
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the planned use is of the Olympic Games shooting ranges after the Games end; and if she will make a statement. [89733]
Mr. Caborn: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr. Bone) on 26 April 2006, Official Report, columns 1133-34W. Decisions on the future use and location of all of the temporary venues constructed for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will be made on a needs basis, in close consultation with the Home Country Sports Councils and UK Sport, closer to 2012.
Mr. Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans there are for venues in Wales to be used (a) to host events and (b) for athletes’ training in the 2012 Olympics. [90076]
Mr. Caborn: The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff will host group stages of the football competition in the 2012 Olympic Games.
Wales also has venues that could be used to provide facilities for pre-Games training and for the holding camps that a country’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) and/or National Paralympic Committee (NPC) may choose to set up prior to the Games.
In order to assist NOCs and NPCs, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) is putting together a ‘Pre-Games Training Camp Guide’ in which facilities in the UK that have been selected as providing a suitable training environment are listed by location and by sport.
Applications to have a facility listed in the Pre-Games Training Camp Guide can be made on the London 2012 website: www.london2012.com/trainingcamps. They will then be collated at regional level and a proposed list of facilities submitted to LOCOG for final selection. The guide will be distributed to NOCs and NPCs in July 2008.
Mr. Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans (a) she and (b) her Department has to meet Welsh Assembly Government Ministers and officials to discuss maximising benefits to Wales from the 2012 Olympics. [90077]
Mr. Caborn: The information is as follows.
(a) The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport plans to meet periodically with the Secretary of State for Wales to review progress towards maximising the benefits to Wales of the 2012 games. Additionally, as Sports Minister, I have met with Alun Pugh on a number of occasions.
(b) A Nations and Regions Group (NRG), has been established to provide leadership and strategic direction in ensuring that the whole of the UK is engaged and makes the most of the opportunities to benefit from the games in 2012. Each nation and region, including Wales, is represented on the NRG and is developing a delivery plan to ensure that it gains the maximum benefits from the games and its legacy.
The Welsh Steering Group for the London 2012 games has also been established to create a direct link with the work of the London 2012 organising committee, DCMS, and wider organisations in Wales. Officials from the Steering Group represent Welsh interests on the Nations and Regions Group.
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the economic effects on (a) inner London, (b) Greater London and (c) the rest of the UK from the 2012 Olympic Games; and if she will make a statement. [90163]
Mr. Caborn: We commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to produce an Olympic Games Impact Study (OGIS) to assess the net benefits of hosting the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012 in social and economic terms to London and the UK. This study (published in December 2005) shows there are likely to be significant benefits for the UK.
Through the Nations and Regions Group we will work with regional development agencies and other key regional bodies to develop plans and strategies to maximise these opportunities.
The OGIS report can be accessed on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport website at: www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/archive_2005/ogis
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Olympic Delivery Authority includes social rented housing in its legacy. [91527]
Mr. Caborn:
The Olympic Park legacy will include affordable housing, including a mix of social rented and intermediate housing (like shared ownership), as set out in local and regional planning policy
documents. The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) will make a new planning application for elements of the Olympic Village located outside of Stratford City, at Clays Lane in January, and they will work with the Olympic Village development partner to determine the level and type of affordable housing.
There will also be legacy applications for housing on other areas of the Park, and the content of these will be discussed between relevant parties, including the ODA, London Development Agency, London Thames Gateway Development Corporation and others. My Department will continue to work with Government colleagues to ensure that affordable housing of all kinds is included within this legacy.
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what examples there are of good practice by local authorities in the preparation and planning for the build up to the 2012 Olympics. [91597]
Mr. Caborn: We have established a Nations and Regions Group which draws together key players from each of the English regions and the devolved Administrations to ensure the whole of the UK is involved in and can maximise the opportunities of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
Each region has established a working group as a focal point for planning for the Games. These working groups bring together key regional bodies such as Regional Development Agencies, Regional Sports Boards, Regional Cultural Consortia and local authorities to ensure effective joint working on preparations for the 2012 Games, including the recent ‘Be Part of 2012’ Roadshow which toured the UK during July, engaging local communities and businesses.
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) assessments and (b) reports her Department holds on file of incidents of contamination on the proposed site of the London 2012 site at Stratford. [92245]
Mr. Caborn: The London Development Agency (LDA), in consultation with the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), is responsible for the assembly and remediation of the land for the Olympic Park site in Stratford.
Initial site investigation and desk-top research work, undertaken by the LDA in support of the Olympic and Legacy Planning Applications, identified some contamination within the footprint of the Olympic Park area. Site investigations are currently being carried out, in accordance with industry best practice, to identify the exact type and concentrations of contamination. The investigations are following principles set out in the Intrusive Investigation Method Statement approved by the London boroughs of Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, the Environment Agency and British Waterways, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.
The process of characterising the nature of ground conditions within the Olympic Park is ongoing and is not due for completion for many months. Although the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport will be working closely with the LDA and ODA throughout the exercise, the reports will be commissioned by those bodies.
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what changes have been made to the initial Olympic Park plans to meet security requirements. [87827]
Tessa Jowell: Security considerations have been written into design work at every stage of the plans and remain of the utmost importance. Though security was not a primary driver for the recent changes to the plans, all alterations that were made by the Olympic Delivery Authority were done so in consultation with the relevant Government agencies, including the Home Office, which leads on security issues in relation to the Games.
TV Licences
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the concessionary schemes for television licences. [92579]
Mr. Woodward: The Government have introduced free licences for people aged 75 or over and increased the discount for registered blind people to 50 per cent. of the licence fee, as well as retaining the accommodation for residential care scheme for retired people aged 60 or over and disabled people. We reviewed the concessionary arrangements as part of BBC Charter Review but, for the reasons set out in the White Paper published in March this year, we have no plans for any changes to the existing concessions.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the eligibility for a free television licence for the over-75s applies to (a) second homes, (b) those permanently in care homes and (c) those in care homes for a short-term period. [90499]
Mr. Woodward: The BBC, as television licensing authority, is responsible for interpreting the television licensing regulations and for determining licensing requirements in specific circumstances. However, the general position is that free television licences are not available for second addresses, whether permanent or short-term. A person aged 75 or over who is ordinarily resident in a care home that qualifies for the communal Accommodation for Residential Care (ARC) concessionary licence does not need a separate television licence and the standard fee of £5 per unit of accommodation is waived for their accommodation. An over-75 living in a care home that does not qualify for the ARC concession would be entitled to their own free television licence.
Ticket Touting
Mr. Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to prevent ticket touting at sporting events; and if she will make a statement. [92583]
Mr. Woodward: In the last few months we have brought together a wide range of interested parties including from sports and from the primary and secondary ticketing industry as well as internet auction sites to discuss how to clamp down on ticket touting and provide ticket selling arrangements in the best interest of fans and the wider public. The Secretary of State has chaired three meetings and a further one is planned for December. In support of this my Department is undertaking research into consumer and other stakeholder opinions and is liaising closely with the Department of Trade and Industry and other public agencies to ensure that relevant legislation and other measures provide as good a regime as possible for the elimination of touting and the encouragement of good ticketing practice.
I will be reporting the outcome of this work as soon as possible next year.
Freeview
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the availability of Freeview in Wirral. [92584]
Mr. Woodward: Ofcom estimates that over 80 per cent. of households in Wirral currently have access to digital terrestrial television.
Digital TV take-up in the Granada region is 74 per cent.
Agency Staff
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what average hourly rate her Department paid to employment agencies for agency staff in each year since 1999, broken down by agency. [89544]
Mr. Lammy: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport use the Sammons Group and Adecco employment agencies to provide temporary staff. Average hourly rates in the year to 31 March 2006 were £14.50 for Sammons and £13.96 for Adecco. Information for earlier years is not available without disproportionate cost to the Department and its employment agencies.
Authorised Version
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Authorised Version of the Scriptures. [89234]
Mr. Lammy: There are no plans in place to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the publication of the Authorised Version of the Scriptures in 2011.
Casinos
Mr. Swire:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on which occasions (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have discussed with the Deputy Prime Minister (i) the Government's policy on
regional casinos, (ii) planning issues connected to regional casinos, (iii) the post-sale use of the Millennium Dome and (iv) gambling policy. [84706]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 12 July 2006]: DCMS Ministers have regular meetings and discussions with ministerial colleagues and others on a wide range of subjects. Information relating to internal meetings, discussion and advice is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many representations have been received by the Department from Manchester residents in opposition to a regional casino. [92357]
Mr. Caborn: The Department has not received any representations from Manchester residents opposed to a regional casino in Manchester. All representations relating to bids by local authorities for the right to issue the one regional casino premises licence permitted by the Gambling Act 2005 have been made to the Casino Advisory Panel, which is operating independently of the Department.
A summary of representations received by the panel both for and against a regional casino in Manchester is available on the Casino Advisory Panel's website (www.culture.gov.uk/cap<http://www.culture.gov.uk/cap>).
Child Protection in Sport
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much public money was given to the Child Protection in Sport Unit in 2005-06. [91534]
Mr. Caborn: Over 2005-06, the Child Protection in Sport Unit received £227,000 of Exchequer funding from Sport England.
Connections Through Culture
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment her Department has made of the likely impact of the Connections through Culture project on Chinese recognition of British culture. [91825]
Mr. Caborn: China-UK: Connections through Culture is a joint initiative between the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the British Council with support from the Scottish Executive. A study has been completed to consider how best to develop further cultural co-operation between the UK and China, including diplomatic and trade ties.
Criminal Injuries Compensation
Mr. Carmichael:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to her answer of 4 July 2006, Official Report, columns 915-16W, on criminal injuries compensation, when she will be making an announcement of further details on the operation of the charitable fund; what estimate has
been made of the cost of extending the Criminal Injuries Compensation scheme to cover British victims of terrorism abroad; and if she will make a statement. [92631]
Tessa Jowell: As indicated in the previous answer, the Government will make an announcement on this subject in the near future.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |