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ITV: Wales

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will hold discussions with ITV on its provision of news and current affairs programmes for Wales. [180657]

Andy Burnham: The Government are committed to retaining a strong regional dimension to public service broadcasting. That is why the Communications Act 2003 provides safeguards for quality regional programming-making and regional programming and requires Ofcom to set appropriate targets for the provision of news and current affairs programmes.

I have no plans to hold any discussions with ITV on this specific issue as the responsibility for regulating ITV's public service obligations falls to Ofcom. However, I expect these issues to form an important aspect of Ofcom's current PSB review.

National Lottery: Grants

Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much held by each of the national lottery distribution bodies has not been drawn down as at the most recent date for which figures are available. [180636]

Andy Burnham: The following table shows the balance held in the national lottery distribution fund on each lottery distributor's behalf at 31 December 2007.

Lottery distributor £ million( 1)

Arts Council England

152.482

UK Film Council

36.847

Arts Council Northern Ireland

18.646

Scottish Arts Council

26.852

Arts Council Wales

11.508

National Heritage Memorial Fund

566.998

Sport England

210.1 14

Sport Northern Ireland

20.725

Scottish Sports Council

50.088

UK Sports Council

15.871

Sports Council Wales

10.251

Scottish Screen

5.776

Big Lottery Fund

532.057

(1) To three decimal places

In addition £85.533 million was held in the Olympic lottery distribution fund on behalf of the Olympic lottery distributor.

National Lottery: Olympic Games 2012

Mr. McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much lottery funding will be allocated to (a) the 2012 London Olympics and (b) the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games over the next five years. [179829]

Andy Burnham [holding answer 17 January 2008]: The national lottery will contribute £2.175 billion in total to the funding package for the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. Of this: £750 million will be raised from dedicated Olympic lottery products, of which well over £200 million has already been
31 Jan 2008 : Column 529W
raised; £340 million will be contributed by the five sports lottery distributors, and the remaining £1,085 million will be transferred from non-Olympic lottery proceeds between 2009 and 2012.

I understand that Glasgow's Candidate City File for the 2014 Games set out the various revenue streams that were expected and that this did not include any revenue from the lottery.

Television: Licensing

Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what arrangements there are to refund the TV licence fee when people lose their television signals for more than a year. [182125]

Andy Burnham [holding answer 25 January 2008]: Section 365(3) of the Communications Act 2003 gives the BBC a discretionary power to refund payments made in respect of a television licence. I understand the BBC has a policy of allowing refunds under certain circumstances. I have, therefore, asked the BBC's Head of Revenue Management to write direct to the hon. Member with further information.

Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment his Department has made of the level of public awareness and recognition of (a) the television licence fee and (b) the services paid for by the licence fee. [182802]

Andy Burnham [holding answer 28 January 2008]: These matters were addressed fully in the BBC Charter review, which was completed in 2006. The results can be found on the Charter review website at:

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will change the name of the television licensing fee to the BBC licensing fee. [182952]

Andy Burnham: I have no plans to do so.


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Children, Schools and Families

Autism

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what mechanisms his Department has in place to ensure the continuity of local education authority services provided to children with autism and Asperger’s syndrome as they make the transition to adulthood. [183401]

Kevin Brennan: The “Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice” (2001) sets out a statutory transition planning process, beginning in year 9, for all young people with SEN statements, including those with autism and Asperger’s syndrome. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Department of Health (DH) have recently published “a transition guide for all services: key information for professionals about the transition process for disabled young people” (2007) to help local authorities and others improve the effectiveness of transition planning.

“Aiming High for Disabled Children” (HM Treasury/DCSF, 2007) announced a £19 million Transition Support Programme over 2008-09 to 2010-11 partly to encourage “joint team working across agencies and with adult services to encourage a holistic approach, and choice and control for young people”. This programme will consider the particular issue of continuity of services as disabled children pass into adulthood.

For young people with autism and Asperger’s syndrome in particular, DCSF and DH published “Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Good Practice Guidance” (2002). This includes pointers to good practice for schools, local authorities, Connexions and the Learning and Skills Council on transitions for these young people.

Learning Disability: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children were on the roll in each moderate learning difficulty school in Essex in each of the last five years. [178836]

Kevin Brennan [ h olding answer 30 January 2008]: The number of children on roll at each moderate learning difficulty school in Essex for the last five years is given in the following table.


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Moderate learning difficulty schools: Headcount of pupils( 1) —position in January each year, 2003-07. Essex local authority
Headcount of pupils
School name Open/closed indicator Closure date Type of establishment 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Moat House School

Closed

31 August 2003

Community Special

58

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Kingswode Hoe School

Open

Community Special

99

87

87

100

111

The Mead School

Closed

31 March 1999

Community Special

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Cedar Hall School

Open

Community Special

122

124

117

116

113

Thriftwood School

Open

Community Special

118

112

117

120

121

Peter Kirk School

Closed

31 December 1998

Community Special

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Woodcraft School

Open

Independent School Approved for SEN Pupils

23

31

29

32

32

The Endeavour School

Open

Foundation Special

74

71

74

79

77

St. John’s RC School (Essex)

Open

Non-Maintained Special

107

103

105

103

102

The Chelmsford New Model Special School, Haywood Campus

Open

Community Special

100

97

102

91

133

The Chelmsford New Model Special School, Woodlands Campus

Open

Community Special

98

87

96

121

105

Market Field School

Open

Community Special

122

126

115

134

146

Castledon School

Open

Community Special

97

92

84

88

94

The Leas School

Closed

31 August 2005

Community Special

97

89

76

n/a

n/a

The Edith Borthwick School

Open

Community Special

156

149

158

162

160

n/a = Not available (school closed)
(1) Excludes dually registered pupils.

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