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21 Feb 2008 : Column 998W—continued
Culture, Media and Sport
Departmental Public Relations
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2008, Official Report, column 1040W, on departmental public relations, which public relations company was contracted for the (a) digital switchover campaign and (b) licensing campaign. [187788]
Margaret Hodge: The public relations company Harrison Cowley was used for the digital switchover campaign and the licensing campaign.
Departmental Security
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the (a) special advisers and (b) Ministerial appointees in possession of a security pass enabling access to his Department’s main building in the month prior to the prorogation of Parliament for the 2005 general election. [182206]
Mr. Sutcliffe: It is established practice not to provide details on pass access to government buildings for security reasons.
Departmental Sick Leave
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of working days lost by his Department’s staff was attributed to stress-related conditions in the most recent year for which figures are available. [187864]
Mr. Sutcliffe: For the 2006-07 financial year, the percentage of working days lost attributed to stress is 13 per cent. of total sickness absence.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has a legal obligation to provide a safe working environment for all employees and guidance is available for staff and managers on how to manage stress effectively.
As part of our attendance, health and well being programme for staff we have a range of policies in place to reduce work related stress. These include: Stress Management policy and Sickness Absence
policy, which includes guidance on making reasonable adjustments. We also offer a full range of flexible work patterns to support work-life balance and have health awareness pages on our intranet. We have appointed a DCMS board member as the Health and Well-Being Champion. In addition, staff have access to our Employee Assistance Programme (counselling service) and onsite gym with a programme of exercise and yoga available.
Film
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding is available for foreign film production companies to make films in the United Kingdom. [187357]
Margaret Hodge: The UK Government provide film tax relief for qualifying films. Foreign filmmakers working in partnership with British film companies may be eligible for such relief. In order to qualify, their films need either to pass the UK’s cultural test or qualify as an official UK co-production. Films should be intended for theatrical release, meet a minimum UK spend requirement of 25 per cent. and be made by a film production company within the UK corporation tax net.
In addition, the UK Film Council provides national lottery funding for film development and production projects; approximately £19 million per year is available. Foreign filmmakers can access this funding by collaborating with companies that are registered and centrally managed in the UK or in another member state of the European Union or European economic area. The provision to allow companies registered in other states of the European Union or European economic area is to ensure compatibility with the general legality principles of the treaty on European Union (the Maastricht treaty).
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many British and foreign film company collaborations have taken place in the last 10 years. [187359]
Margaret Hodge: Between 1997 and 2007, 631 films made either with foreign finance or under the arrangements for official co-productions have been produced in the UK.
There may have been additional collaborations outside the framework for official co-productions. The Government do not maintain central records of such collaborations.
Keith Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many British and foreign film
company collaborations have taken place in the last 12 months. [187360]
Margaret Hodge: Between January and December 2007, 54 films made either with foreign finance or under the arrangements for official co-productions have been produced in the UK.
There may have been additional collaborations outside the framework for official co-productions. The Government do not maintain central records of such collaborations.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many collaborations there have been between British and Indian film companies in the last 10 years. [187361]
Margaret Hodge: We are finalising a treaty to allow for official co-productions between UK and Indian film companies. We are expecting to see up to 10 UK-Indian co-productions made within the first two years. We estimate that this will result in expenditure in the UK of approximately £88 million and in Indian spend of approximately £62 million.
Honours
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many members of the Senior Civil Service in his Department have received an honour. [187130]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport currently has three members of the senior civil service who have received an honour.
National Lottery: Tamworth
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was paid in grants from Lottery funds to organisations in Tamworth in each of the last five years, expressed (a) in cash terms and (b) as a percentage of the Staffordshire total. [187781]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The total value of grants awarded in the local authority area of Tamworth in each of the last five complete financial years, and as a percentage of the Staffordshire total, is set out in the table.
The information is location specific. That is, the figures include only grants that are specific to a location in the region and exclude grants that might have gone to addresses in the region, but are not otherwise related to it.
| Financial year | Total value of grants awarded in Tamworth (£) | Staffordshire total (£) | Tamworth total as a percentage of Staffordshire total |
The Department’s Lottery Grants Database is searchable at:
and uses information supplied by the Lottery distributors.
Playing Fields: Planning Permission
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2008, Official Report, column 1044, on planning permission: playing fields, how many applications were (a) approved, (b) rejected and (c) withdrawn; and what percentage of those approved were considered to represent a significant change to sporting provision, broken down by region since 2001. [188013]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested, broken down at a regional level, could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, a table showing the total number of planning applications nationally on playing fields on which Sport England were consulted for all years since 2001 broken down by numbers (a) approved, (b) rejected or withdrawn and (c) yet to be decided is given as follows. Many of these applications are from clubs/schools wanting to improve the quality of their sports facilities.
| 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | |
Regional Arts Councils: Disclosure of Information
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his policy is on the dissemination of information to the public by regional arts councils. [186811]
Margaret Hodge: It is a long standing, fundamental principle that the Arts Council operates at arm’s length from the Government, which ensures that decisions about the arts are taken by people in the Arts Council whose job it is to develop and support the arts, and not by Ministers. The Arts Council is committed to a policy of openness and transparency and makes information available to the public on a routine basis. Among others, this can include Council minutes, advice and guidance on funding programmes and research reports. The Arts Council’s publication scheme gives details of what information is publicly available and can be found on their website:
Sports: Capital Investment
Mr. Hepburn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much capital has been allocated to evening sports clubs for young people in
(a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England in each year since 1997. [187067]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Funding is allocated by DCMS for Capital Projects throughout England, but no records are kept by DCMS or Funding Distributors (NDPBs) on what purpose building projects that benefit from this funding are used for. It is therefore not possible to provide an answer to this question.
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much capital has been allocated to sport in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England in each year since 1997. [187072]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The following tables show how much capital Exchequer and lottery funding DCMS has allocated to sport in the requested categories:
| (a) Jarrow | |
| Financial year | Total (£ million) |
| (b) South Tyneside | |
| Financial year | Total (£ million) |
| (c) The North East | |
| Financial year | Total (£ million) |
| ( d ) England | |
| Financial year | Total (£ million) |
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