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25 Feb 2008 : Column 1175W—continued
Creative Sparks Initiative: Expenditure
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on the Creative Sparks initiative in each year since its inception; and what plans it has for expenditure on Creative Sparks over the next two years. [187689]
Margaret Hodge: The DCMS Five Year Plan ‘Living Life to the Full’, published in March 2005, included a proposal to develop the Creative Sparks initiative by 2010. It is being enacted through the ‘Find your Talent’ policy announced on 13 February 2008. The sum of £25 million has been set aside over the next three years by the DCMS, the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Arts Council England and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council to establish 10 local area pilots where a full range of partners will trial different ways of delivering a comprehensive cultural offer. In the interim period, the DCMS and DCSF have continued to invest significant amounts in cultural programmes aimed at children and young people. These include Creative Partnerships, Cultural Hubs, the education element of Renaissance in the Regions and Strategic Commissioning for museums and galleries.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many of his Department’s civil servants were (a) suspended and (b) dismissed for accessing (i) obscene and (ii) other prohibited material on work computers in each of the last five years. [188812]
Mr. Sutcliffe: In the Department for Culture, Media and Sport no civil servants have been (a) suspended, or (b) dismissed for accessing (i) obscene and (ii) other prohibited material on work computers in each of the last five years.
As part of the Department’s internet policy, we monitor all internet usage and block inappropriate sites.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spends on the website Margaret Hodge's DCMS Diary; how many unique visitors this section of his Department's website receives each month; how many total hits this section of his Department's website receives each month; and how many full-time staff or equivalent are employed to run this section of his Department's website. [189039]
Margaret Hodge: Margaret Hodge's Diary is a page within the main DCMS website, www.culture.gov.uk. No additional funds are spent on that section of the website. Figures available for the site are:
| Number | |
No full-time staff or equivalent are employed to run this section of the website. The diary pages are managed using existing resources.
Departmental Studies
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 16 July 2007, Official Report, column 38W, on departmental
studies, when he will place in the Library copies of (a) assessing the readiness of the social housing sector for digital switchover, (b) governance of non-departmental government bodies, (c) the casino impacts scoping study, (d) sport's contribution to achieving wider social benefits, (e) measuring elasticity of tourism demand, (f) international dimension of the creative economy, (g) exploring creative industry spillovers, (h) the review of performance indicator framework for national museums and galleries and (i) culture on demand. [185029]
Margaret Hodge: Pursuant to my answer of 16 July 2007, Official Report, column 38W, the following studies have been published and have been placed in the Library:
(a) Assessing the Readiness of the Social Housing Sector for Digital Switchover (now entitled Communal TV Systems and Preparation for Digital Switchover), (d) Sport's Contribution to Achieving Wider Social Benefits, (h) Review of Performance Indicator Framework for National Museums and Galleries and (i) Culture on Demand (now entitled Review of Evidence Base for Delivering SP2/ PSA3).
The following studies have now been published and will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses today:
(b) Governance of Non-departmental Government Bodies, (f) International Dimension of the Creative Economy (now entitled A Framework for Understanding International Demand for the Creative Industries) (g) Exploring Creative Industry Spillovers.
The following study will be published shortly:
(c) The Casino Impacts Scoping Study - The Lancaster Study.
The following study is unfinished and a decision to publish will be taken once complete:
(e) Measuring Elasticity of Tourist Demand.
Departmental Temporary Employment
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what average hourly rate his Department paid to employment agencies for agency staff in each year since 1999, broken down by employment agency. [187798]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has used two employment agencies to provide temporary staff since August 2007, Hays and Brook Street. The average hourly rate for staff provided by Hays was £12.70; the average hourly rate for Brook Street was £11.93.
For the period 2005-06, the Department used Adecco and Josephine Sammons, whose hourly rates were respectively £13.96 and £14.50.
The information requested prior to 2005 could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Translation Services
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what documents his Department, associated agencies and non-departmental public bodies translate for people in the UK who do not speak English. [187988]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has translated the following documents for people in the UK who do not speak English:
Leaflet on the National Lottery (November 2002). Translated into Hindi and Punjabi.
Leaflet on the Licensing Act 2003 (August 2005). Translated into Turkish, Greek, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujerati, Urdu, Chinese, Arabic and Kurdish.
Information on documents translated by our associated agencies and non-departmental public bodies could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Gambling Commission: Manpower
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many specialist Gambling Commission compliance officers there are; and how many have been appointed since the Gambling Act 2005 entered into force. [189038]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Gambling Commission has 55 regionally based compliance staff (all of whom are designated enforcement officers). In addition there is a specialist enforcement team of 10 officers based in Birmingham with national responsibilities. There are eight further specialist compliance staff (sector experts/technical advisers) who have also been appointed as enforcement officers.
Three compliance officers and one enforcement officer have been appointed since the Gambling Act 2005 came into force on 1 September 2007.
Licensing: Fees and Charges
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the report of the Independent Licensing Fees Review Panel; and whether he plans to review the fees prescribed by the Licensing Act 2003 (Fees) Regulations 2005. [189043]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I am considering my response to the Independent Licensing Fees Panel report, and I expect to make changes to the Licensing Act 2003 (Fees) 2005 Regulations in due course.
Museums and Galleries
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what progress has been made towards his Department's public service agreement target to increase significantly the number of people from priority groups accessing museums and galleries collections; and if he will make a statement; [187352]
(2) how many people aged 16 years and above (a) from black and minority ethnic groups, (b) with a limiting disability, (c) from lower socio-economic groups and (d) in total attended museums and galleries collections in each year for which figures are available. [187353]
Andy Burnham: 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 in the following table. They provide a comparison between the baseline figures and the second-year results of the survey. The statistics show no significant change from year one to year two.
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.
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 | |
National Lottery: Tamworth
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was paid in prizes awarded by the National Lottery to individuals who reside in (a) the Tamworth constituency and (b) Staffordshire in each of the last three years for which information is available. [187816]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested is not available. The national lottery operator, Camelot, does not collect prize payout information on a constituency or postcode basis; nor does it collect the addresses of winners who win prizes of less than £500.
Performing Arts
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what information his Department collects on the number of constituencies in England with no permanent theatre or community performing arts space. [187778]
Margaret Hodge: My Department does not collect the requested information.
Sports: Schools
Mr. Hepburn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many school sports co-ordinators have been introduced in (a) the Jarrow
constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England in each year since the establishment of the policy. [187071]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The School Sport Partnership (SSP) infrastructure of Partnership Development Managers, Secondary Sport Co-ordinators and Primary Link Teachers was rolled out in stages between 2000 and 2006.
Information on numbers of School Sport Co-ordinators is only readily available for 2006 and 2008. Information for other years is available only at disproportionate cost.
| Number | ||
| 2006 | 2008 | |
Tourism
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the 10 most popular tourist attractions in England were in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (a) revenue raised and (b) visitor numbers. [187676]
Margaret Hodge: The tables show the top 10 tourist attractions in England and admission figures between 1999 and 2006.
Information before 1999 and information on the revenue raised by these attractions are not available.
| Top 10 tourist attractions and visitor numbers in England( 1, 2) | |
| 1999 | |
| Number | |
| 2000 | |
| Number | |
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