| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
31 Jan 2007 : Column 378W—continued
Culture, Media and Sport
BBC
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will take steps to amend the BBC agreement to provide for publication of the salaries and other remunerative arrangements of senior BBC (a) management and (b) presenters. [112205]
Mr. Woodward: The Government have no plans to amend the BBC agreement as proposed.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the expenditure by her Department on buying, operating and supporting (a) all commercial software products and (b) software products produced by Microsoft was in each of the last three years. [112605]
Mr. Lammy: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Offices
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what area of office space her Department and its agencies used in central London in (a) 2004 and (b) 2006; and if she will make a statement. [112182]
Mr. Lammy: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport used 12,186 sq m of office space in 2004 and 12,865 sq m in 2006.
The Royal Parks’ headquarters used 1,643 sq m of office space in 2004 and 1,643 sq m in 2006. The figure for The Royal Parks (TRP) covers office space in TRP’s HQ buildings and the offices in each individual park. Other operational spaces such as stables, garages, restaurants, etc are excluded.
Leisure Activities: Stroud
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she (a) is taking and (b) plans to undertake to improve the quality of life of residents of Stroud with particular reference to sporting and cultural activities. [112619]
Mr. Lammy: The programmes supporting sporting and cultural provision offered by my Department and its non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) are available in all towns of England, including Stroud.
Some examples of the many actions we have undertaken or plan to improve quality of life in Stroud include the following;
Since 1 May 1997 Lottery distributing bodies, which make funding decisions independently of Government, have made 394 awards, worth around £18 million, in the Stroud constituency. (This information is derived from the Department’s lottery grant database which uses information supplied by the lottery distributors.) This includes an award of £12.34 million in July 2004 by the Heritage Lottery Fund to British Waterways for the ‘Renaissance of the Cotswold Canals’.
Over £1.5 million of Sport England lottery funding has been invested in sport in Stroud since 2004. This includes a new Stroud and District School Sport Partnership established in September 2006 to increase the amount and quality of sports opportunities for pupils in the area as part of the National School Sport Strategy.
In addition, a Sports Development Service was launched in 2002 to provide a range of programmes and opportunities to residents, which has helped Stroud to achieve higher participation levels for sport and active recreation than the national average recorded by Sport England’s 2006 Active People survey.
We are committed to the potential benefits of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games being maximised across the whole of the UK, and are working closely with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the Nations and Regions Group, which brings together representatives from every nation and region. Each nation and region is developing its own plan to maximise the impact of the Games in their area, as well as the wider opportunities to deliver a sustainable legacy from the Games.
With close proximity to London and the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy in neighbouring Dorset as the venue for all the 2012 sailing events, the Games will be a terrific boost for all the South West including Stroud.
South West Screen, the regional screen agency for the South West of England area, runs a number of schemes and services promoting cinema and film- making in the area. Specifically, it is supporting ‘Viewfinder’, a regional film festival seeking to build regional audiences for locally made films by emerging film-making talent, taking place in March. The Space, Stroud’s community arts centre, is one of the venues for the festival, which is expanding this year to make the consumption of locally made films a more sustainable enterprise.
Libraries
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what support her Department is providing for library facilities for older people. [111569]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 30 January 2007]: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 5 July 2006, Official Report, column 1097W.
Olympic Games
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to ensure that the procurement of sustainable building materials for the 2012 Olympics is undertaken from sources across the United Kingdom. [112386]
Mr. Caborn: The Government are committed to ensuring that businesses and communities across the UK, including in Wales, are able to benefit fully from the opportunities presented by hosting the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. We are working closely with the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), the body responsible for constructing the Games facilities, as well as the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (London 2012 Organising Committee) to realise this aim. We have established a nations and regions group involving each constituent part of the UK and English regions, and each member of the group has been tasked with developing plans to ensure that they take full advantage of the benefits presented by the Games, including procurement opportunities.
The Government recognise that the Games present a unique opportunity to showcase the path to sustainability in the UK as a whole, including in the use of sustainable materials. The materials used in the construction of the Olympic Park and venues are a key aspect of the ODA’s commitment to delivering sustainable development, and it is committed to identifying, sourcing and using environmentally and socially responsible materials. Its sustainable development strategy, published on 23 January, set out its policy in relation to use of sustainable materials in more detail.
The London 2012 Organising Committee will manage its procurement policy separately from the ODA, but will also adopt fair and sustainable procurement principles. Its procurement policy and associated strategy is currently being developed and a sustainable development plan for the Olympic programme overall will be published in the spring.
Trooping the Colour
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 16 January 2007, Official Report, column 1043W, on Trooping the Colour, what factors were taken into account when deciding to fly only the flags of the Commonwealth in Horse Guards road. [111891]
Mr. Lammy: Factors taken into account when deciding to fly the flags of Commonwealth countries for Trooping the Colour include the constitutional heritage of the countries represented and the number of available flag poles in Horse Guards road.
TV Licences
Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of television licences were purchased or renewed (a) at a post office, (b) online, (c) by phone and (d) by post in (i) 2004, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2006. [111192]
Mr. Woodward: The information requested is available only for financial years. In the last three financial years, the percentage of television licences obtained by the methods specified(1) was as follows:
(1) The majority of television licences are now purchased by direct debit (DD). DD purchases rose from 56.9 per cent. of licences in 2004-05 to 62 per cent. in 2006-07 (year to date). In addition, in 2006-07 (year to date) approximately 6 per cent. of licences were purchased via PayPoint outlets and approximately 3 per cent. were over-75 licences renewed automatically without contact from the licence holder.
| Percentage | |||
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07( 1) | |
| (1) To end December. (2) Telephone sales data are not available for 2004-05. | |||
Duchy of Lancaster
Voluntary Sector
5. Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the compact on relations with the voluntary sector covers the speed of payment from Departments to voluntary sector organisations. [112465]
Edward Miliband: The Compact Code of Good Practice on Funding and Procurement includes a clear undertaking that Departments and agencies should make payments on time.
7. Mr. Bone: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster by what date the Government expect three-year funding to be established for public funding of the voluntary sector. [112467]
Edward Miliband: The pre-Budget report stated that in the comprehensive spending review covering 2008 to 2011, Departments and agencies should pass on the flexibility and certainty of three-year funding to third sector organisations as the norm not the exception.
V Charity
6. Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment she has made of the performance of the organisation v in helping young people volunteer. [112466]
Edward Miliband:
v has made good progress since its launch in May of last year, creating 42,000 volunteering opportunities for young people this year alone and attracting pledges of over £17 million of
match funding from the private sector, in addition to up to £100 million available from Government. I look forward to its continuing to make further progress.
Social Exclusion
8. Linda Gilroy: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what effect she expects personalising public services to have on tackling social exclusion. [112468]
Mr. McFadden: Personalisation is crucial to the effectiveness of the public services and tackling social exclusion, particularly among the most disadvantaged. People rightly expect services to be tailored to their own needs and circumstances. This is why the Government have introduced measures such as direct payments for disabled people and those requiring social services, specialised help for struggling pupils and stretching programmes for talented students, as well as the Pathways to Work programme for disabled people receiving incapacity benefit.
Cabinet Office Precedent Book
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many pages the Cabinet Office Precedent Book currently contains; how many individual items of advice are in the book; and when it was last updated. [117634]
Hilary Armstrong: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the then Minister for the Cabinet Office (David Miliband), to the hon. Member for Mid-Norfolk (Mr. Simpson) on 3 February 2005, Official Report, column 1011W.
Citizen Forums
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will place in the Library copies of each document and presentation prepared in relation to the citizen forums and policy review event held on 15 January 2007. [117626]
Mr. McFadden: The documents and presentations considered at the policy review event on 15 January have been placed in the Library for the reference of Members. Policy review presentations by the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit on public services, the environment and energy, security, crime and justice, and the role of the state have also been placed in the Library for the reference of Members.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Newmark: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the expenditure by her Department on buying, operating and supporting (a) all commercial software products and (b) software products produced by Microsoft was in each of the last three years. [112608]
Mr. McFadden: It is not possible to readily identify from the Department's accounting system what the cost of supporting (a) all commercial software products and (b) software products produced by Microsoft, was in each of the last three years. This information is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
Duchy of Lancaster Council
Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what procedures are used to appoint members of the Duchy Council; and if she will make a statement. [112463]
Hilary Armstrong: The procedures for appointing members to Duchy Council include independent identification of individuals with relevant experience and expertise and a selection process from a shortlist of candidates through interviews by a panel comprising of senior Duchy officers together with an independent representative, usually from the Treasury.
Government Websites
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the URL is of each Government website which has been closed as part of the Government's programme of website consolidation. [117630]
Mr. McFadden: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood) on 26 January 2006, Official Report, column 2127W.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many individual visitors accessed the Directgov website via (a) Sky, (b) Ntl, (c) Telewest and (d) mobile phones in the last year for which figures are available. [117631]
Mr. McFadden: Figures for Sky, Ntl and Telewest are only available since the launch of a new application in mid-August 2006. It should be noted that these figures are for visits to Directgov and not for individual visitors. Television access can be used by a number of individuals within a household, making it impossible to accurately measure unique visitors.
In the five month period from August 2006 to mid January 2007, visits (rounded to the nearest thousand) are shown in the following table.
| Visits to Directgov | |
| Number | |
| (1)Number of visits in the 11 months from February 2006 to December 2006 | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |