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4 Mar 2008 : Column 2328W—continued
Bingo: Closures
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will visit a bingo club in Castle Point constituency to discuss the effects of bingo club closures on (a) social cohesion and (b) quality of life for local residents; and if he will make a statement. [190423]
Mr. Sutcliffe: My right hon. Friend is grateful for the invitation, which has been passed to me as the responsible Minister. I have visited a bingo club in my own constituency and fully recognise that bingo clubs provide a unique social network in many communities. My officials are in close dialogue with the Bingo Association to see whether there are any measures we may take to help bingo through the difficulties which the sector appears to be experiencing. I hope to be able to make an announcement shortly.
Capita
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2008, Official Report, column 1168W, on Capita, what travel services Capita provides for flights. [189991]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Capita Business Travel provides a flight ticket booking service for the Department, which was procured through the Office of Government Commerce Buying Solutions framework agreement.
Casinos: Licensing
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many casinos in England are licensed to operate 24 hours a day. [191317]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 3 March 2008]: Under the Gambling Act 2005 (Mandatory and Default Conditions) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007, default conditions attaching to casino premises licences state that no facilities for gambling shall be provided on the premises between the hours of 6 am and noon on any day.
Casino operators can apply to their licensing authority for an extension to these hours. This is a matter for individual licensing authorities to determine. Information on the number of casinos which operate for 24 hours a day is not collated centrally.
Climbing
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he next plans to meet the British Mountaineering Council to discuss Government support for mountaineering. [191601]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Secretary of State has no immediate plans to meet the British Mountaineering Council.
Cultural Services Improvement Unit: Finance
Mr. Hunt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding (a) his Department,
(b) the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, (c) English Heritage, (d) the Arts Council and (e) Sport England provided for the Cultural Services Improvement Unit at the Improvement and Development Agency in each of the last three years; and what plans there are for continuation of funding from each body in the next three financial years. [191372]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department and its NDPBs are currently reviewing their work programmes and have yet to agree the level of funding they will provide to the Improvement and Development Agency in future.
The total funding provided by the Department and its NDPBs to the Cultural Services Improvement Unit at the Improvement and Development Agency over the last three years is £830,000. A full breakdown of this follows:
| £ | |||
| Funder | 2005-06 year 1 | 2006-07 year 2 | 2007-08 year 3 |
Departmental Transportation Programme
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department’s transformation programme has cost to date; how much the two all-staff conferences to discuss the transformation programme cost; how many consultants have been employed to work on the transformation programme; which consultancy companies have been involved in the programme; and how much has been paid to each such consultancy to date. [190622]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Costs associated with the DCMS transformation programme from April 2007 to date are as follows:
| Cost (£) | |
|
October 2007 and February 2008 staff conferences held at the Queen Elizabeth Hall | |
|
Consultants engaged to provide expert facilitation and advice: | |
Departmental Equality
Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what conclusions his Department has reached in fulfilment of the duty under section 3.111 of the statutory code of practice of the disability equality duty. [190760]
Mr. Sutcliffe: DCMS officials have completed their review of the action taken by the Department to meet the disability equality duty and drafted an annual report for publication. The report will be published as soon as it is approved by Ministers.
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) press and (b) communications officers his Department and its agencies employed in each of the last five years. [187580]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The number of press officers employed by the Department in each of the last five years is:
| Press officers | |
| (1) This includes press officers working on the Olympics. | |
The Department does not have a “communication officer” grade. The “White Book” of contacts in Government Departments and Agencies contains listings for the Department and the book is updated twice yearly.
The Department has only one Agency, the Royal Parks Agency. The number of officers employed in the Royal Parks Agency is:
| Press officers | Communications officers | |
Departmental Written Questions
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many written parliamentary questions have been tabled for answer by his Department in Session 2007-08; and what the average number of days taken to answer them has been. [190241]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The number of written parliamentary questions tabled for answer by my Department this Session is 903. This figure includes those written parliamentary questions tabled to the Minister for the Olympics.
Information on the average number of days taken to answer them is not readily available in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many and what proportion of parliamentary questions for answer on a named day to his Department received a (a) holding and (b) substantive answer on the named day in each year since 2001. [190284]
Mr. Sutcliffe: DCMS aims to ensure that hon. Members receive a substantive response to their named day question on the named day. Unfortunately, this is not always possible but this Department makes every effort to meet this timescale. The information requested is provided in the following table.
| Named day parliamentary questions | ||||
| (a) Received holding answer | (b) Received substantive answer on named day | |||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| (1) Includes named day questions answered by the Minister for the Olympics since June 2007 Source: Information derived from the DCMS parliamentary questions database. | ||||
Gambling: Internet
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what arrangements there are to prevent children under the age of 18 years using internet gambling sites; and if he will bring forward proposals for users to prove their age before accessing those sites. [190515]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Operators of internet gambling sites which are licensed by the Gambling Commission must comply with tough social responsibility measures to prevent underage gambling. These measures include procedures requiring customers to affirm they are of legal age, warning customers that underage gambling is an offence and requiring gambling websites to permit filtering software so that parents can restrict access to those sites.
All remote operators are required to complete age verification checks for customers that register to gamble using a debit card or other means of electronic payment other than a credit card, which are not generally available to under 18s. In addition, customers are not permitted to withdraw winnings until satisfactory age verification checks have been completed.
For credit card users, there are separate provisions which require operators to carry out a programme of random checks to ensure compliance with age restrictions.
If operators fail to comply with these requirements they are subject to regulatory action from the Gambling Commission.
For websites in other jurisdictions that are not licensed by the Gambling Commission, operators will be subject to the age verification measures required by the relevant jurisdiction.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many internet gambling companies are registered in the UK. [190516]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Gambling Commission has issued (as of 1 February) a total of 144 remote operating licences allowing companies to operate on-line gambling sites from Great Britain.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what European legislation governs provision of internet gambling services based in one member state to people in another member state. [190517]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The EC Treaty applies to the provision of internet gambling services between member states. There is no secondary EU legislation in this area as the directive on electronic commerce (2000/31/EC) and the directive on services in the internal market (2006/123/EC) both exclude gambling activities.
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