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14 May 2007 : Column 535W—continued
Sports: Children
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many children in (a) West Bromwich, East constituency and (b) the West Midlands region have been nominated for a talented athlete scholarship scheme since its introduction. [136716]
Mr. Caborn: Since its introduction in 2004 the talented athlete scholarship scheme has distributed an award to one athlete in the West Bromwich East constituency and 174 in the West Midlands region.
Sports: Funding
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what conditions are set by UK Sport for recipients of World Class Performance programme funding in relation to party political activity. [136940]
Mr. Caborn: UK Sport does not set specific conditions for recipients of World Class Pathway funding in relation to party political activity. The fundamental basis of the terms and conditions set out in the Athlete Personal Award are there to protect an athlete’s performance. An athlete’s political persuasion is not a matter for UK Sport, unless it could be proved that as a result of their activity, it brought the Performance Programme into disrepute.
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what provision she has made for the continuation of funding to the Community Club Development Programme once the current funding cycle ceases. [136941]
Mr. Caborn: Funding for the Community Club Development Programme beyond 2008 will be subject to the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Sports: West Midlands
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Supporters Direct and the Supporters Trust Initiative in the West Midlands region. [136720]
Mr. Caborn: Supporters Direct was established in 2000 and aims to deliver responsible democratic representation at football clubs through the establishment of Supporters Trusts. Over 140 trusts have already been established with Supporters Direct’s help and over 120,000 people have been introduced to local democratic structures as club trust members.
Supporters Direct has either directly or indirectly helped with the establishment of 27 trusts in the Midlands area of which 12 are located in the West Midlands. It has a full-time development worker providing dedicated help, advice, assistance and
guidance along with access to training programmes and funding opportunities to the region.
AFC Telford, a trust-owned club, has become a beacon of the supporters trust movement. Following the liquidation of the old Telford United during the 2003-04 season, AFC Telford established a supporters’ trust which has made an important contribution to the club’s success both on and off the field.
Also, through funding from the Football Foundation, the club has created a successful community hub at their ground, the New Bucks Head, in the form of a learning centre which I had the pleasure of opening.
UK Film Council: Funding
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the projected funding allocation is for the UK Film Council in each of the next two financial years. [136717]
Mr. Woodward: For 2007-08, the UKFC will receive £24.11 million of grant in aid funding plus a £1 million capital award to go to the British Film Institute. The level of the grant in aid funding for 2008-09 will be dependent on a decision made in the current Comprehensive Spending Review.
The UK Film Council also receives lottery funding. It is not possible to exactly forecast income from the lottery but, based on current projections for 2007-08, this funding might total around £30 million.
The lottery funding available to the UK Film Council in 2008-09 cannot yet be estimated. It will depend to a significant extent on decisions made following consultation with lottery distributors on how to accommodate the proposed transfer, subject to parliamentary approval, of funds held in the National Lottery Distribution Fund to the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund after 2009.
Deputy Prime Minister
Departments: Sick Leave
David Simpson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people took sick leave for stress in his Department in the last 12 months; and what percentage of the total staff number this represents. [135475]
The Deputy Prime Minister: None.
Post Offices
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent progress has been made in considering the responses to the consultation on the future of the Post Office Network. [131690]
The Deputy Prime Minister: The Post Office Network consultation concluded on 8 March 2007 and the Government received over 2,500 representations, which are currently being given full consideration.
I am chairing discussions on the Government's response in the appropriate Cabinet Committee, and we hope to be able to announce our final decisions shortly.
Justice
Courts: Manpower
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to her Answer of 30 April 2007, Official Report, column 1452W, on courts: manpower, what research has been undertaken into the reasons for court service staff leaving. [136486]
Ms Harman: Data in relation to the reasons for leaving Her Majesty’s Courts Service are held on the HR IT system. The detail of why a person left is held locally and monitoring is carried out to assess trends and to decide any action that might need to be taken.
For the period April 2006 to March 2007 the reasons for leaving HMCS were:
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Departments: Internet
Mrs. May: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs for which Government websites she is responsible; how many visitors each received in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the cost (a) was of establishing and (b) has been of maintaining each site. [135716]
Vera Baird: The information requested is listed in the following table. The table details annual costs and unique visitors, for the period April 2006 to March 2007, for each of the websites for which my Department is responsible. We have a small number of contracts that provide support and maintenance for multiple sites. Where this is the case, the total cost of the contract is detailed underneath the table.
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