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7 Feb 2007 : Column 965W—continued
Football: Sports Grounds
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations she has received on reviewing the regulations relating to standing areas at football grounds; and if she will make a statement. [119102]
Mr. Caborn: My Department has received 88 letters on this issue since August 2006, including 73 from hon. Members and the others from supporters’ groups calling for a return to standing terraces or for standing in seated areas. This issue was also raised in a meeting I had with the Football Supporters Federation last year. In addition, I have held meetings with the football authorities. They have made it clear that they have no wish to re-introduce standing areas at grounds in the top two divisions.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will review the regulations governing standing areas at football grounds with a view to allowing standing in certain areas. [119321]
Mr. Caborn: We look at all new evidence to ensure the legislation covering safety in sports grounds remains relevant and is the best means to ensure spectator safety, including the all-seater requirement. In doing so we consider the advice of the football authorities. They have made it clear they have no wish to re-introduce standing area at grounds in the top two divisions.
The safety of spectators at football grounds is paramount and we have seen no new evidence to suggest that there is a single more effective way of achieving safety as well as public order than all-seater stadia. We therefore have no plans to amend the legislation at this time.
Gaming Clubs
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many casinos in total there have been in the UK in each quarter since the Budd report in 2001; and if she will make a statement. [119222]
Mr. Caborn: Figures are not readily available for casinos operating on a quarterly basis. The following table shows the number of casinos operating in Great Britain as at 31 March for each year since 2000-01 and at the latest available date.
| To 31 March | Number of casinos operating |
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many casinos have (a) applied for and (b) had approved operating licenses from the Gambling Commission under the Gambling Act 1968 since May 2005; how many of these have applied for premises licenses that have been (i) approved, (ii) rejected and (iii) not yet determined, broken down by those with gross gaming yield of (A) up to £5 million, (B) £5 million to £100 million and (C) above £100 million; and if she will make a statement. [119223]
Mr. Caborn: The Gambling Commission considers applications for certificates of consent for new casinos, or for significant alterations to, or relocations of, existing casinos. Once a certificate of consent is issued, operators can then apply to the licensing magistrates for a casino licence. There is no guarantee that the grant of a certificate of consent will result in a casino licence being granted.
Since 1 April 2005 the Gambling Commission has received 96 applications for certificates of consent for new casinos (56 in 2005-06 and 40 in 2006-07) and 28 applications for substitute or extended premises (nine in 2005-06 and 19 in 2006-07) under the Gaming Act 1968. During the same period, it has issued 75 certificates (including four where a second certificate was issued for the same premises) in respect of new casinos and 22 for substitute or extended premises.
A breakdown is not readily available either by gross gaming yield (since such figures are not provided under the 1968 Act until the casino has been operating for some time) or by current status of any licensing application.
From 28 April 2006, the Gambling Commission could no longer accept applications under the Gaming Act 1968 Act for certificates of consent in respect of new casinos.
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects the order relating to the casino advisory panel’s recommendations for the location of the new casinos to come before the House. [119471]
Mr. Caborn: Section 175(4) of the Gambling Act 2005 requires the Secretary of State to consult Scottish Ministers and the National Assembly for Wales before bringing forward a draft order determining the geographical distribution of the new casino premises licences permitted by the Act. The order will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure requiring a debate and potentially a vote in both Houses. We will bring forward the draft order at the earliest opportunity.
National Lottery
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much public money has been spent for the administration of national lottery good causes under section 29 of the Horse Racing, Betting and Olympic Lottery Act 2004 as (a) a total and (b) broken down by (i) staffing, (ii) IT and (iii) other costs; and if she will make a statement. [119219]
Mr. Caborn: The administration costs of the Olympic lottery distributor since its inception on 8 July 2005 are provided in the table. These costs are met from the Olympic lottery distribution fund.
| Period 8 July 2005 to 2 February 2007 | |
| £ | |
| (1) In order to keep administrative costs to a minimum, OLD buys in support services such as IT from the Big Lottery Fund with which it shares premises. IT costs were not recharged for financial year 2005-06 as they were negligible. IT costs for financial year 2006-07 are yet to be recharged. | |
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many organisations for which she has responsibility she is proposing to reclassify as a non-departmental public body; how many of these organisations have expressed opposition to such a change in status; and if she will make a statement. [117898]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 1 February 2007]: DCMS currently has no plans to reclassify any of the organisations it has responsibility for as a non-departmental public body.
Olympic Games: Greater London
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff work for the Olympic Lottery Distribution (a) in total and (b) as full-time equivalents; and if she will make a statement. [119225]
Mr. Caborn: The Olympic Lottery Distributor is a small organisation, operating with a core of essential staff. Five members of staff currently work for the distributor representing 4.4 full-time equivalents.
House of Commons Commission
Light Bulbs
Lynne Jones: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what percentage of lightbulbs on the House of Common estate are low energy. [117725]
Nick Harvey: It is not possible to calculate the percentage of lamps on the House of Commons estate which are low energy, but it can be said that the majority of the lamps in use are low energy. Parliamentary estate engineers have been proactive in using low-energy lamps for several years and two of the earliest installations in the UK of the Philips QL lamps, which use less than a third of the energy of standard tungsten lamps, were inside the Clock Tower and on the Terrace. This work has continued with the Palace external lanterns and Star Chamber Court, Members Staircase and the Colonnade lights all being converted to QL lamps since then. The Clock Tower external floodlighting and the Lower Secretaries offices, Upper Committee Corridors North and South and 1 Derby Gate lights were all fitted with low-energy lamps during the last two years. There are several types of low-energy lamps currently on trial in the Upper Committee Corridor wall light fittings and comments on them would be most welcome.
The work of installing low-energy and also long-life lamps as replacements to inefficient tungsten lamps, when cost-effective, is continuing as budgets and access to areas allow. It should be noted that using low-energy lamps, which are usually the fluorescent type, in some light fittings in historic areas of the palace would not be appropriate, for example the chandelier in Central Lobby. Projects for installing more low-energy and long-life lamps and for installing lighting controls are being considered at present and suggestions for areas to investigate would be welcome.
Home Department
Antisocial Behaviour: Bournemouth
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much additional funding he plans to make available to Bournemouth on the granting of Respect status. [117733]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 31 January 2007]: As one of the Respect areas announced on 22 January 2007, Bournemouth has been invited to put forward proposals for up to £125,000 in 2007-08, to improve parenting services for families whose children are at risk of, or involved in, antisocial behaviour.
Antisocial Behaviour: Darlington
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) parenting orders, (b) parenting contracts and (c) antisocial behaviour orders were initiated in the Darlington area in each year since their introduction. [118541]
Mr. McNulty: Youth Offending Teams (“YOTs”) report to the Youth Justice Board (“YJB”) the number of Parenting Orders relating to youth offending or antisocial behaviour by youth offending team area.
The number of parenting orders relating to crime or antisocial behaviour reported to the YJB by Darlington YOT since recording of parenting orders began in April 2000 until the period April 2005—March 2006 (the latest published data) is shown in the following table:
Parenting orders in relation to crime or antisocial behaviour reported to the YJB by Darlington YOT:
| Number | |
Since recording began in April 2004 of the number of final warnings with an intervention or relevant court disposal supported by a parenting contract, Darlington YOT has reported no parenting contracts.
Recording of the number of final warnings with an intervention or relevant court disposal supported by a voluntary parenting intervention, without a parenting contract, also began in April 2004. Darlington YOT reported 50 such voluntary parenting interventions in 2004-05 and 19 in 2005-06.
The number of antisocial behaviour orders as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service where prohibitions have been imposed in the Darlington borough council local government authority area is shown in the following table:
Antisocial Behaviour: Chorley
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders were breached in Chorley in each of the last five years. [118933]
Mr. McNulty: ASBO breach data are available up to 31 December 2005 and are available at Criminal Justice System (CJS) Area level only.
British Standard 7971
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the usefulness of British Standard 7971 on requirements and test methods for police riot protection; and for what reasons his Department decided to develop other specifications. [117791]
John Reid: British Standard 7971 “Protective Clothing and Equipment for Use in Violent Situations and in Training” was developed as an umbrella and generic set of standards rather than as a police-specific standard. As such, it is intended to cover additional walks of life where violence, confrontation or training might be an issue. Each standard under the umbrella relates to specific equipment. Where the Home Office Scientific Development Branch has published a standard for Protective Equipment an assessment has been made that the Police Operational Requirement is not met by the corresponding element from the generic BS 7971 set. Other elements of the BS 7971 set will be assessed to see whether they meet the POR prior to work being carried out on a police-specific standard
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