| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
3 Mar 2008 : Column 2120W—continued
| Arts attendance | ||||
| 2005-06( 1) | 2006-07 | |||
| Priority group | Percentage | Thousand | Percentage | Thousand |
| (1) Data are available for six months only in 2005-06 due to a change in question wording. Population figures (thousand) have been scaled up to represent the full year. | ||||
All data are taken from the DCMS ‘Taking Part’ survey, which provides national data on participation in arts activities and attendance at arts events by adults aged 16 and over.
Arts: Finance
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what long-term strategy his Department has in place for the balance of funding for national institutions in the arts and heritage sector between grant-in-aid and other forms of funding. [190623]
Margaret Hodge: The future health of the arts and heritage sectors will be dependent on securing optimal levels of public and private investment. Sustained investment from central and local government, the National Lottery, business, private individuals and trusts and foundations will all play an important role in the long-term support of our cultural heritage.
Grant in aid for the next three years has now been allocated following the completion of the comprehensive spending review. My Department is working with a broad range of stakeholders to ensure that our investment is complemented by funding from other sources.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of donations made to national institutions in the arts and heritage sector by private sponsors can be reclaimed as tax relief. [190624]
Margaret Hodge: Tax issues are of course the responsibility of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and my Department works closely with the Treasury on matters such as the current review of Gift Aid. A broad range of tax reliefs are available to private donors and sponsors of bodies in the arts and heritage sector. These will vary depending on the tax status of each donor. We are keen to ensure appropriate incentives for giving to culture and to secure greater take-up of measures such as Gift Aid across the sector.
Casinos: Licensing
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many casino applications under the Gaming Act 1968 are pending determination by the Gambling Commission. [190554]
Andy Burnham: At 28 February 2008 there were nine applications for a casino Certificate of Consent pending determination or issue by the Gambling Commission under the Gaming Act 1968. Seven of the applications were in respect of new casinos and the other two were substitute premises for existing casinos.
Cultural Heritage
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 visiting designated historic environment sites; and if he will make a statement; [187350]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of people aged under 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 who visited designated historic environment sites in each year for which figures are available. [187351]
Margaret Hodge: The DCMS ‘Taking Part’ survey is being used to measure progress against this Public Service Agreement.
The most recent results published in December 2007 are in the 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 1 to year 2.
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 | |
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, the annual English Heritage-funded scheme run by the Civic Trust, in which over 35,000 volunteers share their knowledge and memories with up to 1 million visitors every year, making this England’s largest voluntary cultural event.
Culture Online
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) hits and (b) unique visitors were recorded by Culture Online in each year since it was established, broken down by project website. [187324]
Margaret Hodge: Hits and unique visitors recorded by Culture Online in each year since it was established, broken down by project website, are set out in the tables. Culture Online closed at the end of March 2007. Four projects did not record hits—MadforArts, Origination, Plant Cultures and Playground Fun. Unique visitors were not recorded for two projects—My Art Space and The Dark.
| (a) Hits | ||||
| Project | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| (b) Unique Visitors | ||||
| Project | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |