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10 Dec 2007 : Column 112W—continued
Sports: Schools
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of state-funded secondary schools play competitive cricket. [172346]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The school sport survey does not provide data on competition for individual sports. However, we are able to provide the following information:
The 2006-07 school sport survey shows that 98 per cent. of secondary schools offer cricket to their pupils and 77 per cent. of secondary schools have links to a local cricket club.
Sports: Summertime
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the potential effect on participation in sport and outdoor recreation of introducing British Summer Time in winter and double British Summer Time in summer. [172342]
Mr. Sutcliffe: We have not carried out research to assess the potential effect of introducing British Summer Time in winter and double British Summer Time in summer on participation rates in sport and outdoor recreation.
Sports: Young People
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what initiatives and programmes are in place to encourage the development of rowing facilities and encourage the sport among young people before the London 2012 Olympics. [172196]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Amateur Rowing Association is one of the 25 national governing bodies of sport which help to deliver the Step into Sport and Club Links workstrands of the National School Sport Strategy. The National School Sport Survey 2006-07 demonstrated that 7 per cent. of schools offered rowing and 3 per cent. of schools had a link with a rowing club.
Since 2003, Sport England has allocated over £3.2 million of Community Club Development Programme funding to the Amateur Rowing Association to help community sports clubs to develop or redevelop their sports facilities.
Television: Licensing
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what representations he has received on the continuation of black and white television licences after digital switchover; [169323]
(2) whether the black and white television licence will continue in place (a) before, (b) during and (c) after digital switchover. [169325]
James Purnell: Continuation of the black and white TV licence after digital switchover has occasionally been referred to in correspondence. Under the current regulations a black and white licence covers a digital set top box installed and used solely in conjunction with a television set or monitor able to display television programmes in black or white only. We have no plans to change this.
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) black and white and (b) colour television licences were issued in each year since 2000. [169324]
James Purnell: The number of (a) black and white and (b) colour television licences in force at March of each year was as follows:
| Black and white | Colour | |
| Note: The figure for 2007 is provisional and will be subject to change until March 2008. | ||
Tourism: Floods
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the cost of the floods in the summer of 2007 to the tourism industry. [169855]
Margaret Hodge: Full estimates of the costs of the flooding to the national tourism industry will not be possible until statistics on domestic holidays and day trips for the whole of 2007 are available next year.
The Southwest and West Midlands Development Agencies have recently commissioned research on the economic costs of the flooding, to include the costs to the tourism industries of these regions.
VisitBritain
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has allocated to VisitBritain in 2007-08. [172597]
Margaret Hodge: DCMS has allocated grant-in-aid of £50.65 million to VisitBritain for 2007-08. This includes £750,000 in additional funding for domestic marketing support following the summer's flooding, and £300,000 for capital expenditure.
Wombwell and District Amateur Operatic Society: Finance
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much grant aid Arts Council England awarded to the Wombwell and District Amateur Operatic Society in each of the last five years. [171920]
Margaret Hodge: Arts Council England has not awarded a grant to the Wombwell and District Amateur Operatic Society in the last five years.
Communities and Local Government
Business: Non-domestic Rates
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the presence of fire sprinklers is taken into account in business rate valuations. [171589]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) on 21 March 2007, Official Report, columns 991-92W.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effect of supplementary business rates on the take up of business improvement districts. [171596]
John Healey: It will be for individual local authorities, in developing proposals for business rate supplements, to consider the potential impact on local business and on business improvement districts (BIDs). This will include considering whether there should be an offset for ratepayers contributing to BIDs. Such decisions will need to be determined locally, as circumstances, including potential benefits to be derived from a business rate supplement and BID activities, will depend on the particular case concerned.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether a wall-mounted satellite dish is taken into account in the assessment of a business property for business rate purposes. [171586]
John Healey: The installation of a wall-mounted satellite dish does not affect a property's rateable value because it is not an item named in The Valuation for Rating (Plant and Machinery) (England) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000 No. 540) and is not, as a consequence, rateable.
Citizenship: Education
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made in preparing and disseminating guidance for teaching materials to be used in citizenship courses in madrassahs; and what the uptake of such material has been amongst the UK's madrassahs. [169614]
Mr. Dhanda: Muslim communities in a number of areas have pioneered the development of citizenship programmes in madrassahs, most notably the Nasiha project in Bradford. Like other supplementary schools madrassahs are not specifically regulated. Therefore, we do not have a definitive account of the number of madrassahs that have implemented citizenship curricula. Communities and Local Government and the Department for Children, Schools and Families are working with Muslim communities to develop a programme of work to identify and disseminate good practice and facilitate increased take-up.
Climate Change
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the Climate Change planning Policy Statement will be published. [165210]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker) on 24 October 2007, Official Report, column 376W.
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department (a) has taken and (b) intends to take by (i) 2012 and (ii) 2020 in relation to adaptation to the effects of climate change as they affect her departmental responsibilities; and if she will make a statement. [166421]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 6 December 2007]: My Department has taken a number of steps to build adaptation to the effects of climate change into its policies. These include:
Water scarcity—announcing regulations to be introduced on the water efficiency of new homes;
Flood risk—publishing Planning Policy Statement 25: Development and Flood Risk, and publishing guidance on resilient construction. PPS25 is an important part of climate change adaptation policy, providing a risk-based approach to managing future changes in flood risk to new development due to climate change;
Overheating—Limiting temperature rise by controlling the effects of solar gain through passive measures is one of the five main criteria that have to be met to comply with the energy efficiency requirements of the Building Regulations for new homes. To help limit the reliance for air conditioning due to hotter summers new homes will need to be designed with both hot and cold weather in mind if they are to be zero carbon;
Planning—publishing a draft Planning Policy Statement: Planning and Climate Change, which is due to be finalised shortly, and including a duty on planning authorities in relation to climate change in the Planning Reform Bill;
Local Government—consulting on an indicator on climate change adaptation, to be included in the new Local Government Performance Framework;
Emergency response—publishing guidance to the Fire and Rescue Service on responding to the effects of climate change;
Existing buildings—work with the London Climate Change Partnership and the three regions (London, South East, East of England) exploring what needs to happen to homes for purposes of adaptation and resilience.
The Department will be working with Whitehall on the development of a cross-Government Adaptation Framework, due for publication in the spring.
The Climate Change Bill, once enacted, will require Government to report at least every five years on current and predicted impacts of climate change and on its proposals and policy for adapting to these. The Department will consider and address the risks that climate change presents to its policies and programmes as part of that process.
Community Relations: Christmas
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what guidance and advice she has provided public authorities on celebrating Christmas in a manner conducive to promoting community cohesion; [171556]
(2) what guidance (a) her Department and (b) its agencies have given to local authorities on celebrating Christmas; and if she will make a statement. [171561]
Mr. Dhanda: Communities and Local Government has not provided guidance to local authorities on celebrating Christmas.
Council Tax
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of those eligible to vote in local elections have (a) full and (b) partial liability for council tax. [171631]
John Healey: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Council Tax: Empty Property
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to commission research on the council tax discount on empty properties. [171594]
John Healey: Communities and Local Government shortly expects to commission researchers to investigate the extent to which local authorities are exercising their discretionary council tax power in respect of long-term empty homes and the impact this has had.
Council Tax: Valuation
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what (a) qualitative and (b) quantitative research the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister commissioned in relation to council tax revaluations prior to the discontinuance of that Office. [171720]
Departmental Foreign Workers
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) EU foreign nationals and (b) non EU foreign nationals are employed by her Department. [168112]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the guidelines issued to staff maintaining her Department's and its agencies' corporate identity; and what the estimated annual cost is of (a) producing and (b) complying with such guidelines. [170238]
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