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4 Feb 2008 : Column 778W—continued
Planning Permission: Playing Fields
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate his Department has made of the change in the number of
playing fields of an area of less than 0.4 hectares in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [183923]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 1 February 2008]: Information on the change in the number of playing fields of less than 0.4 hectares is not collected centrally. However, the Department for Communities and Local Government has committed to consulting this year on reducing from 0.4 hectares to 0.2 hectares the threshold at which Sport England must be consulted when a planning application for development is submitted.
Portable Antiquities Scheme
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many representations his Department has received from (a) hon. Members, (b) members of the public and (c) others on the portable antiquities scheme since 1 December 2007; and if he will make a statement. [183531]
Margaret Hodge: Between 1 December 2007 and 30 January 2008, this Department received (a) 130 representations from hon. Members and (b) 98 representations from members of the public on the subject of the portable antiquities scheme.
For the purposes of the Department’s correspondence statistics we do not differentiate between letters from the public and letters from organisations.
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what measures are in place in relation to the Portable Antiquities Scheme to provide the advice on recording finds previously supplied by schemes funds advisers; whether those posts were abolished due to cost-saving measures; and if he will make a statement. [183833]
Margaret Hodge: The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is administered by the British Museum (BM) on behalf of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). Any decisions about the delivery of the scheme are, therefore, a matter for these organisations. The total number of staff employed by the PAS in financial year 2007-08 increased by four. It is the intention of both the MLA and the BM to maintain a national scheme in 2008-09 and beyond.
Publishing
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what consideration he has given to Ofcom's proposal to establish a public service publisher. [178760]
Andy Burnham:
The Government welcome the work Ofcom has done to develop the idea of a public service publisher and notes that it proposes to consider the issue further as part of its current review of public service broadcasting. Ofcom's conclusions in this area will be a key input to our review of the future funding of public service broadcasting. The Government's
Convergence Think Tank will also be considering ways in which universal access to high quality content can be sustained.
Sport
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made towards his Department's public service agreement target to increase the take-up of cultural and sporting opportunities by adults and young people aged 16 and above from priority groups; and what steps he has taken to ensure this target is met. [182700]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 28 January 2008]: The DCMS ‘Taking Part’ survey is being used to measure progress against this public service agreement.
The most recent results were published in December 2007 and are in the following tables. They provide a comparison between the baseline figures and the second year results of the survey.
We are working closely with the cultural sector's strategic delivery bodies—Arts Council England, English Heritage and the Museums Libraries and Archives Council—to ensure that we maximise our impact on increasing participation rates.
These bodies deliver through a range of programmes and initiatives with cultural organisations at regional and local level. This includes:
investment in programmes such as Renaissance in the Regions, which has seen visits to local museums and galleries by people from the PSA3 priority groups up by over 30 per cent. since 2002-03;
free admission to formerly charging sponsored museums in England—where attendance has gone up by 98 per cent. since 2001;
record investment in Arts Council England's regularly funded organisations of £326 million this year; and
Heritage Open Days, which receives its core funding from English Heritage, where 850,000 people visited some of 3,500 buildings last year, making it England's largest voluntary cultural event.
Sport England have been working to increase the number of participants in sport through a range of interventions across sports organisations at a regional and local level, including national governing bodies, county sports partnerships, community sports networks, sports clubs and others. Since 1997-98, over £4 billion has been invested through Government and the Lottery on sport in England.
Participation will be an integral part of Sport England's new strategy to build a world-class community sport infrastructure.
The historic environment indicator is defined as at least one attendance at a designated site during the past 12 months.
| Percentage | ||
| Year 1 | Year 2 | |
The museums and galleries indicator is defined as at least one attendance at a museum or gallery during the past 12 months.
| Percentage | ||
| Year 1 | Year 2 | |
The arts attendance indicator is defined as attendance at two or more different types of arts events during the past 12 months.
| Percentage | ||
| Year 1 | Year 2 | |
The arts participation indicator is defined as participation in two or more different types of arts activities during the past 12 months.
| Percentage | ||
| Year 1 | Year 2 | |
Moderate level intensity sport
The moderate level intensity sport indicator is defined as participation in moderate intensity level sport for at least 30 minutes on three separate days during the past week.
| Percentage | ||
| Year 1 | Year 2 | |
The active sport indicator is defined as at least one occasion of participation in an active sport during the past four weeks.
| Percentage | ||
| Year 1 | Year 2 | |
Sports: Greyhounds
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2008, Official Report, column 1402W, to the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) on sports: greyhounds, whether he plans to exempt greyhound tracks from regulatory requirements under the Gambling Act 2005; and what deregulation is planned arising from the objective for the industry to be self-regulated. [178770]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 30 January 2008]: The Gambling Act has included a number of deregulatory measures to assist the greyhound industry, including ending the five times entry rule for on-course bookmakers and lifting the ban on off-course pool betting. We do not anticipate any significant further gambling deregulation of greyhound tracks arising from Lord Donoughue's recommendations.
Television: Licensing
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what powers his Department has to ensure that TV Licensing carries out its duties to detect those not paying a television licence fee in a proportionate and equitable manner. [183931]
Andy Burnham: Under the BBC’s Royal Charter, it is the responsibility of the BBC Trust to ensure that arrangements for the collection of the licence fee are efficient, appropriate and proportionate. There is no provision for Government to intervene in such matters.
Tourism
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will publish the provisional 2006 productivity data for the tourism and leisure industry, referred to in his Department's Autumn Performance Report 2007. [184020]
Margaret Hodge: Productivity data for the tourism and leisure industry is estimated from the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI), run by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). As referred to in the DCMS Autumn Performance Report 2007, the provisional ABI data for 2006 were released by the ONS in December 2007.
An update of the tourism and leisure industry productivity target to incorporate this data will be published in the Department's Annual Report—scheduled for release by 19 May 2008.
As in previous years, the Autumn Performance Report will include the final 2006 productivity data following the release of the validated ABI results in June 2008.
VisitBritain: Advertising
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what VisitBritain’s overseas advertising budget was in each year since 1997. [184021]
Margaret Hodge: VisitBritain’s annual budgets for overseas marketing work were as follows (in £ million, and including VisitBritain’s predecessor bodies—the British Tourist Authority and the English Tourism Council—up to 2002-03):
| £ million | |||
| Total | Overseas budget | Domestic budget | |
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