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13 Jun 2007 : Column 1039W—continued
Casinos
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what further scrutiny of the recommendations of the Casino Advisory Panel report has been carried out by officials of her Department since the report by the House of Lords Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee on that report and the subsequent order. [142165]
Mr. Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State considered carefully the points made by the Merits Committee in its report, and on 21 March wrote to Lord Filkin to set out her views. Copies of that letter were placed in the Libraries of both Houses at the time.
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether she has the power under the relevant legislation to introduce two orders separating out the regional casino from the other large and small casinos. [142256]
Mr. Caborn: Section 175(4) of the Gambling Act 2005 requires the Secretary of State by order to make provision for determining the geographical distribution of casino premises licences within the limits specified in subsections (1) to (3) of that section. The Secretary of State is not required to do so by means of a single order.
Casinos: Licensing
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the meetings which have taken place between (a) her and (b) officials from her Department and representatives of the 17 local authorities set out in the draft Gambling (Geographical Distribution of Casino Premises Licences) Order 2007; and what the purpose was of each meeting. [142166]
Mr. Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and her officials meet regularly with representatives of many local authorities across a range of issues. The cost of identifying all such meetings would be disproportionate.
However, on 25 April, following a request from LACORS, a senior official attended a meeting of the Casino Officers Network, a group organised by the 17 local authorities set out in the Draft Gambling (Geographical Distribution of Casino Premises
Licences) Order 2007. The meeting was convened for a variety of purposes, including discussion of the Government’s consultation on the regulations and code of practice to be made under schedule 9 of the Gambling Act 2005.
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects to bring the Gambling (Geographical Distribution of Casino Premises Licences) Order 2007 back to Parliament. [142257]
Mr. Caborn: Ministers are currently considering the options in the light of the defeat of the Order in the House of Lords on 28 March, and there is no set timetable for an announcement.
Circuses: Licensing
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the progress of her Department’s review of the impact of the Licensing Act 2003 on travelling circuses; and how many responses the Department has received from (a) circuses and (b) local authorities to the survey it is conducting to inform that review. [141587]
Mr. Woodward: Following consultation with representatives of the sector, we issued a survey in March asking circuses about their experience of the first year of the new licensing regime. This has now been completed by 22 circus operators and represents a significant proportion of touring tented circuses. We are currently in the process of obtaining responses to a similar survey of licensing authorities in order to assess the extent of regulatory issues relating to circuses. We aim to complete the analysis of these surveys during the summer.
Departments: Official Cars
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her Department’s policy is on the vehicle excise duty bands of Ministerial cars; and into which bands cars presently allocated to Ministers fall. [141339]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 11 June 2007]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Minister of State for Transport (Dr. Ladyman) on 11 June 2007, Official Report, columns 727-28W.
Hotels: Closures
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate her Department has made of the number of (a) hotels, (b) guest houses and (c) bed and breakfasts which have closed since 1997, broken down by region; how many representations she has received from (i) hoteliers, (ii) guest house owners and (iii) bed and breakfast owners since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [141839]
Mr. Woodward:
The Insolvency Service maintains records of bankruptcies and liquidations, analysed by type of business. No specific records of hotels, guest
houses and bed and breakfasts are maintained, although figures for hotel and catering businesses are held. Regional analyses are not maintained.
The total numbers of liquidations and bankruptcies for hotel and catering businesses in England, Wales and Scotland, for each year since 1998, are as follows:
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | First three quarters of 2006 | |
DCMS has received 24 representations from hoteliers, guest house and bed and breakfast proprietors since 2004, when the Department started to record all correspondence electronically. VisitBritain maintains regular contact with such businesses, where the latter participate in the National Quality Assessment Schemes.
Listed Buildings: Smoking
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received on the impact of no smoking signs on listed properties; and what action she has taken on the issue. [142167]
Mr. Lammy: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received one representation on this, from the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Mr. Maples). She has responded that there is sufficient flexibility in the legislation to allow for signs to be placed in a way that is sympathetic to the character of listed buildings.
Musicians: Finance
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding her Department provided for music groups in the London borough of Bexley in each of the last five years. [141679]
Mr. Lammy: Government funding for music groups is primarily channelled through Arts Council England (ACE). In the last five years £100,682 has been given to projects in the London borough of Bexley through ACE’s Grants for the Arts.
In addition to this, Youth Music have provided funding totalling £101,677 to projects in Bexley in the last five years.
Olympic Games: Greater London
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the new logo by Wolff Olins for the Olympics 2012 cost; which other design consultants were considered for the design of the logo; and what estimate she has made of the additional costs required to rebrand all current Olympics 2012 publicity material, including each relevant website. [141050]
Tessa Jowell: The design cost of the new London 2012 brand is a matter for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG). The cost, which is in the public domain, is in the region of £400,000. This sum comes from LOCOG’s budget of £2 billion, which is funded from private sources.
The selection of companies is also a matter for LOCOG. I understand a brief was drawn up and a long list of companies with expertise in this field from the UK and abroad was assembled. LOCOG met with these companies and drew up a short list, all of whom had the opportunity to put their case for the design and development of the new brand. Wolff Olins was appointed as the preferred company to develop the thinking behind the brand and the official emblem.
LOCOG does not have a central estimate of the additional cost required to rebrand all London 2012 publicity material.
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent on the London 2012 Olympic logo. [141086]
Tessa Jowell: This is a matter for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG). The design cost of the new London 2012 brand, which is in the public domain, is in the region of £400,000. This sum comes from LOCOG’s budget of £2 billion, which is funded from private sources.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 22 May 2007, Official Report, column 1178W, on the Olympic Games: Greater London, what the name was of the separate cost review set up to take forward the work of the Steering Group and chaired by the Minister of Sport. [141484]
Tessa Jowell: The cost review set up to take forward the work of the Olympic Cost Review Steering Group did not have an official name, but was simply referred to as ‘the cost review’.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment her Department has made of the impact on overall costs for the Olympics of the decision on a final budget being taken in March 2007. [141904]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 11 June 2007]: I have nothing further to add to my statement of 15 March 2007, Official Report, column 450.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what meetings the Budget and Revenues Sub-Group set up to consider the cost of the 2012 Olympics held after July 2004. [141907]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 11 June 2007]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for East Devon (Mr. Swire) on 12 March 2007, Official Report, column 62W which states that the Budgets and Revenue Sub-Group met between February 2004 and July 2004. There were no further meetings of this group after July 2004.
Public Libraries: Closures
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate her Department has made of the number of municipal libraries that have closed in the latest year for which figures are available. [142262]
Mr. Lammy: The number of public library closures is not centrally recorded. However, the net change in library service points can be calculated using the Public Library Statistics published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). These show that for 2005-06 (the latest year for which figures are available) the total number of public library service points open for 10 hours or more per week, and including mobile libraries, was 3,500. The comparable figure for 2004-05 was 3,474. This reveals an increase of 26 in the total number of service points. These net figures take into account openings of new libraries as well as closures.
Tourism
Anne Milton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department has conducted any economic research within the last six
months into the size of the UK tourism industry; and if she will make a statement. [141841]
Mr. Woodward: No new economic research has been conducted in the past six months on the size of the UK tourism industry. However, annual estimates are produced based on the “UK Tourism Satellite Account—First Steps”.
The latest report estimated that in 2005 the UK tourism industry generated £85 billion for the UK economy. This total is made up of the following components:
| £ billion | |
Tourism: Insolvency
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate her Department has made of the number of tourism businesses that have declared themselves bankrupt since 1997, broken down by region; and if she will make a statement. [141840]
Mr. Woodward: The Insolvency Service maintains records of bankruptcies and liquidations, analysed by type of business. No specific records of tourism businesses are maintained, although figures for hotel and catering businesses are held. Regional analyses are not maintained.
The total numbers of liquidations and bankruptcies for hotel and catering businesses in England, Wales and Scotland, for each year since 1998, are as follows:
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | First three quarters of 2006 | |
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