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3 Dec 2007 : Column 805W—continued
Departmental Foreign Workers
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) EU foreign nationals and (b) non EU foreign nationals are employed by his Department. [168111]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is currently employing one EU foreign national and one non EU foreign national.
Departmental Land
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what land surplus to his Department’s requirements it is (a) selling, (b) leasing and (c) intending to (i) sell and (ii) lease; and what the size and name of each relevant site is. [168845]
Margaret Hodge: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is in the process of selling 3.6 acres of surplus land to the “North of the British Library”.
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many full-time equivalent staff are responsible for brand management and marketing in his Department and its agencies. [165235]
Margaret Hodge: The Department has 0.5 full-time equivalent staff responsible for brand management and marketing.
DCMS publish a set of brand guidelines which stipulate clear rules about how the DCMS brand should be presented in various visual formats and we insist that our rostered design agencies abide by these guidelines.
We also manage and approve requests from independent and partnership organisations that are working with DCMS and require a joint branding.
The objectives of the DCMS brand are to ensure the visual consistency across printed and digital media to enable a better understanding of the Department’s objectives and responsibilities, and raise its profile amongst its diverse audiences which include internal stakeholders, the general public and sponsored bodies.
With regard to its agencies, this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department and its agencies spent on staff working on (a) marketing and (b) branding in the last 12 month period for which figures are available. [167309]
Margaret Hodge: The Department has not spent money on staff working on marketing and branding in the last 12 month period.
Information on the Department’s agencies could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent by his Department on advertising in the last 12 months. [167960]
Margaret Hodge: The Department has spent the following on advertising in the last 12 months.
"London 2012: Ask the team" Birmingham event, 25 June 2007—adverts in four local newspapers: £2,639.
"London 2012: Ask the team" London event, 11 October 2007—adverts in three local newspapers: £5,186.
Digital Broadcasting: Salisbury
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will bring forward from 2012 the proposed start of digital broadcasting from the Salisbury transmitter. [169288]
James Purnell: The timetable for digital switchover, announced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Tessa Jowell) in 2005, was the result of a great deal of work conducted by spectrum planners, working alongside the broadcasters, Ofcom and Digital UK.
The order in which transmitters would cease broadcasting in analogue, and begin transmitting high power digital signals, was determined primarily by the following technical criteria:
The need to co-ordinate frequency use with neighbouring countries;
The desire to avoid interference with maintained analogue services in one region while converting another;
The time needed in order to convert all 1,154 transmitters, a process requiring a great deal of equipment and highly specialised engineers.
It is therefore extremely difficult to bring forward (or delay) the switchover date for one particular transmitter without a very compelling reason.
East of England Development Agency: Tourism
Mr. Stewart Jackson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what he estimates will be the level of funding for the East of England Development Agency for the purposes of tourism for
2008-09; what proportion this represents of his Department’s expenditure on tourism in that year; and if he will make a statement. [166974]
Margaret Hodge: Funding for regional development agencies (RDAs) is not ring-fenced for particular purposes. In 2008-09, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will provide a contribution of £3.5 million towards the funding of the eight RDAs outside London. Total funding for the RDAs will be £2.2 billion (distributed through the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) of which the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) will receive £132 million. EEDA allocated £1.34 million for supporting tourism in 2007-08, but has not yet finalised its business plan for 2008-09.
Flags: Public Participation
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many representations he received on the consultation document on flag flying; when he will report on the consultation; and if he will make a statement. [168887]
Margaret Hodge: 305 responses were received by the time the consultation on flying the Union flag on Government buildings closed on 9 November.
DCMS has committed to publishing a summary of those responses within one month of the end of the consultation. The Government intend to respond in the new year.
Football Association
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what meetings he had with the Football Association in each week since June 2007; what the (a) location and (b) duration of each meeting was; whether a record of each meeting was kept; who attended each meeting; what the cost was of each meeting, broken down by (i) administrative and (ii) other costs; and if he will make a statement. [169537]
Mr. Sutcliffe: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has met the Football Association on a number of occasions since June 2007, firstly on 7 August at the Creating Chances launch, in his office on 8 August, at the launch of Kickz on 14 September, at a reception he hosted for the England women's football team at DCMS on 7 November, at the Barclays Spaces for Sport event at Rosemary Gardens, Islington on 22 November and at Fulham Football Academy on 26 November.
I have also met the FA on a number of occasions since June 2007. Firstly on 13 June and 5 July both in my office, at Soho Square on 18 July, at the FA Agents Conference at Wembley Stadium on 11 October, at a reception for the England women's football team at DCMS on 7 November, at Fulham Football Academy on 26 November and most recently on 28 November at Soho Square. A note was taken of the main issues discussed on 13 June, 5 July, 8 August and 28 November respectively.
The cost of these meetings was met from normal departmental running costs.
Football: Females
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make representations to enable a women’s football team from Great Britain to compete in the 2008 Olympics; and if he will make a statement. [169361]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Any decision on whether a Great Britain football team participates at the 2008 Olympic games is a matter for FIFA, the four Home Nations’ Football Associations, and the organisers of the Olympic tournament. I believe that the participation of a GB women’s football team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics would have strongly benefited women’s football and raised its profile across the whole of the UK. I am therefore very disappointed that, despite encouragement from Government and the current enthusiasm for the women’s game, no agreement could be reached between the four Home Nations’ Football Associations to allow a GB women’s football team to participate.
Football: Schools
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues in the Department for Children, Schools and Families on football development in (a) primary schools and ( b) secondary schools; and if he will make a statement. [170104]
Mr. Sutcliffe: On 21 November 2007, our Secretary of State and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the DCSF, chaired a seminar with governing bodies and school sport associations, including the Football Association and the English Schools Football Association, to develop our plans to increase competitive sporting opportunities for children and young people and create world class junior competition structures in both schools and clubs.
Football: Tickets
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations he has made to the football association on the pricing regime of Premier League football tickets for the 2007-08 season; and if he will make a statement. [170129]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I meet regularly with the football authorities to discuss a range of issues, including those of direct concern to supporters such as ticket pricing.
Ticket pricing is a matter for the football authorities and it would not be right for Government to seek to intervene in these issues directly.
However, there is a clear role for Government to play in acting as a ‘critical friend’ to football, and in seeking to facilitate useful debates around areas of concern across all levels of sport.
The Government are committed to ensuring that all football clubs are run in the best possible way and that they remain a focal point of their local community. It is essential that a serious debate takes place around the rising costs involved for those wishing to support their local team on a regular basis and the potential impact this trend might have on the supporters of the future.
Illegal Immigrants
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many illegal immigrants have been discovered working for his Department and its agencies in the last year for which figures are available. [170479]
Mr. Sutcliffe: No illegal immigrants have been discovered working in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport or the Royal Parks in the last year.
Islam
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will ask Ofcom to place in the Library the material in its possession originating from (a) West Midlands police, (b) the Crown Prosecution Service and (c) other sources relating to Channel 4's Dispatches programme, Undercover Mosques and the Ofcom investigation into it. [169627]
James Purnell [holding answer 29 November 2007]: The matters raised are the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) as independent regulator. Accordingly, my officials have asked the chief executive of Ofcom to respond directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the chief executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Licensed Premises: Finance
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will put measures in place to require owners of licensed premises to contribute to the cost of managing public safety consequent upon the night-time economy. [170273]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Such measures would amount to taxation and would therefore be a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to consider. Licensed premises are likely to already be paying tax which would include a contribution to managing public safety at all times of the day and night. There are, therefore, currently no plans to introduce the measures envisaged.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the Minister for Sport will respond to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 15 October on consumer credit licences and amateur private sports clubs (reference: 80018). [170089]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The issues raised in the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 15 October fall within the remit of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR).
I understand that a reply was sent to the hon. Member on 19 November by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Consumer Affairs (Mr. Thomas).
Multiple Occupation: Digital Broadcasting
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether communal digital television receiving infrastructure will be built in to all new dwellings for multiple occupation constructed as part of the 2012 Olympic site regeneration. [168997]
James Purnell: Yes. All residential properties built as part of the Olympic Village will have the benefit of a fibre communications network which will allow for transmission of voice, data and other communication protocols including digital television.
Museums and Galleries
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2007, Official Report, column 11W, on museums and galleries, if he will list each of the (a) museums and (b) art galleries sponsored by his Department in each of the last 10 years. [169969]
Margaret Hodge: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport sponsors the following museums and galleries:
1. The British Museum
2. The Geffrye Museum
3. The Horniman Museum
4. The Imperial War Museum
5. The Museum of London
6. The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester
7. The National Gallery
8. The National Maritime Museum
9. The National Museum of Science and Industry
10. National Museums Liverpool(1)
11. The National Portrait Gallery
12. The Natural History Museum
13. The Royal Armouries
14. Sir John Soane's Museum
15. TheTate
16. Tyne and Wear Museums(2)
17. The Victoria and Albert Museum
18. The Wallace Collection.
The Department began sponsorship of the following museums within the last 10 years:
19. The National Coal Mining Museum for England (from 1998-99)
20. The Design Museum (from 2001-02)
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