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17 Mar 2008 : Column 838W—continued
Working Age Population
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when Dame Carol Black will publish the report of her review of the health of the working age population. [192986]
Mrs. McGuire: Dame Carol and her Review Team are currently in the latter stages of analysing the evidence gathered and drafting the report. She is currently hoping to submit her report to Ministers later this month.
Culture, Media and Sport
Arts: Pupils
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions he has had with the Department for Children, Schools and Families on improving access to the arts for school pupils; and if he will make a statement. [193753]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 13 March 2008]: We are committed to working closely with the Department for Children, Schools and Families on improving access to the arts for school pupils.
On 13 February 2008 we announced a £25 million Find Your Talent programme of 10 pilots that will trial ways of offering children and young people a range of high quality cultural experiences for five hours a week, in and out of school.
We have published a prospectus seeking applications from partnerships in local areas around the country, setting out a core range of activities we believe young people should be able to engage with. We are looking for innovative bids that will test different ways of delivering a range of cultural opportunities over the next three years, including ways of ensuring all children are able to experience at least five hours. The pilots will give us the information we need to make decisions about rolling out the offer nationally.
These pilots will build on the considerable amount of cultural activity already taking place in and out of school and the investment we put into this area. For example we recently announced that we will invest a further £110 million to expand the successful Creative Partnerships programme over the next three years so that it works with more than 2,000 schools per year.
Arts: Warrington
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to improve access to the arts in Warrington. [193750]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 13 March 2008]: Government investment and support for the arts is primarily channelled through Arts Council England (ACE). Overall arts funding has increased in real terms by 73 per cent. since 1998 and in 2007-08 ACE received £412 million.
ACE North West has allocated the following funding to arts organisations in Warrington in the past three years:
| £ | |||
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
ACE North West has contributed £12,000 to the local arts strategic fund (LASF) for 2007-08 and is working closely with Warrington borough council.
Culture
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many cultural events he has attended in his official capacity since taking office. [193752]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 13 March 2008]: Since taking office, I have attended 16 cultural events in an official capacity.
Culture: Education
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he plans to take with the Department for Children, Schools and Families to provide every child with five hours of culture a week. [188845]
Andy Burnham: We are committed to working closely with the Department for Children, Schools and Families on improving access to the arts for school pupils.
On 13 February 2008 we jointly announced a Find Your Talent programme of 10 pilots that will trial ways of offering young people a range of cultural opportunities over five hours a week in and out of school. There is already much cultural activity taking place in and out of school and the pilots will build on this, to make sure all children and young people have the opportunity to take part in cultural activities.
We have published a prospectus seeking applications from partnerships in local areas around the country, setting out a core range of activities we believe young people should be able to engage with. We are looking for innovative bids that will test different ways of delivering a range of cultural opportunities over the next three years, including ways of ensuring all children are able to experience at least five hours. The pilots will give us the information we need to make decisions about rolling out the offer nationally.
The deadline for bids is 7 April 2008. Successful applicants will be notified in May and work will begin in September 2008.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether his Department will provide (a) financial or (b) organisational help to cultural institutions as part of the Government's policy of ensuring that every child experiences five hours of culture a week. [188846]
Andy Burnham: On 13 February 2008, we announced a £25 million Find Your Talent programme of 10 pilots that will trial ways of offering young people a range of cultural opportunities over five hours a week in and out of school.
We have published a prospectus seeking applications from a wide range of partnerships. Each partnership, which needs to include all appropriate local cultural institutions, can apply for up to £2.5 million over three years. While we would expect the majority of money to be spent directly on new activity for young people, it can also be used for skills assessments, training and continued professional development for those in the cultural sector implementing delivery. It can also be used to subsidise entry fees to local cultural institutions.
This programme builds on the Government's already considerable investment we provide to cultural institutions working in this area. This includes the support we give to enable free entry to national museums and the Creative Partnerships programme which will receive over £110 million over the next three years.
Sports: Facilities
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many delegations arranged by hon. Members he has met to discuss the provision of sports facilities since his appointment; and what the outcome of each such meeting was. [193494]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 12 March 2008]: I have met one delegation arranged by an hon. Member to discuss sports facilities.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he has had on sports facilities in smaller local communities since his appointment. [193495]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 12 March 2008]: I have had no formal discussions on sports facilities in smaller local communities.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will allocate resources to the inclusion of (a) sporting and (b) cultural facilities in the Orford Project; what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of such facilities to regeneration in Warrington; and if he will make a statement. [193496]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 12 March 2008]: Community Sports Hub projects, such as the one at Orford Park, have the potential to deliver a new, innovative approach to building sustainable community multi-sports facilities. I am aware that Sport England is currently considering a lottery application for this project.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Bankruptcy: Greater London
Tom Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 3 March 2008, Official Report, columns
2221-2W, on bankruptcy: Greater London, when he expects figures for 2007 to be available on the same basis as earlier years. [194528]
Mr. McFadden: The following records the number of individual bankruptcy orders that have been declared in each London court in 2007. The High Court is the only court located in London with insolvency jurisdiction.
| Number of individual bankruptcy orders made in the High Court, 2007 | ||
| High Court | London OR | |
| Notes: 1. Cases heard by the High Court are not restricted to those individuals resident or trading in the London area; they may include cases from across the country, most notably, where the petitioner is HMRC. 2. New case figures for the London Official Receivers region are also given for comparative purposes. These include cases assigned to the Public Interest Unit (PIU). They do not, however, include cases dealt with by Croydon Official Receiver, although the London Region officially has included Croydon OR from 2004-05. 3. After a bankruptcy order has been made it is possible that the case may subsequently be assigned to a different court, for various reasons. The High court figures 2007 reflect the court details recorded on an extract of the database taken in February 2008 and may, therefore, be subject to movements in both directions following the order date as far as High Court figures are concerned. 4. Individuals may also be assigned to a different official receivers office as the case progresses, perhaps because the bankrupt has moved or cases are re-allocated. The London Official Receivers’ figures shown record the office assigned at the time the order was made. | ||
Departmental Public Expenditure
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether consideration has been given to applying gender responsive budgeting to his Department's budget. [192099]
Mr. Thomas: The UK Government are supportive of efforts to achieve gender equality and continue to work very closely with both the Women's National Commission and the Women's Budget Group on promoting gender equality within the UK.
In 2004, HM Treasury undertook a pilot project on gender analysis of expenditure with the Women's Budget Group. The project demonstrated the value of gender analysis in some areas and identified what tools and expertise were necessary within Government to carry out gender analysis, but that further work was needed before gender responsive budgeting could be implemented.
In 2008, HM Treasury will be conducting further work that will determine whether it is prudent and feasible to disaggregate departmental expenditure statistics by gender. Following these lines Departments can then highlight any specific initiatives they have been operating or funding which support the empowerment of women and promote gender equality.
Post Offices: Local Authorities
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if his Department will provide funding for local authorities to provide post office services where Post Office branches have been identified for closure. [193694]
Mr. McFadden: The Government have committed an annual subsidy of £150 million a year up to 2011 to support a sustainable post office network of around 11,500 outlets. To the extent that individual communities or local authorities wish to support additional provision above that level, that will be their financial responsibility.
Road Traffic: Lancashire
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what discussions the North West Regional Development Agency has had with Lancashire county council on reducing traffic congestion in Lancaster and Morecambe. [194450]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 14 March 2008]: NWDA is party to ongoing discussions between Lancashire county council, Lancaster city council and Lancaster and Morecambe Vision Board about traffic congestion in the area. The focus is a recently completed Lancaster and Morecambe Access and Transport Strategy which has reviewed current transport issues and identified possible short, medium and long-term solutions.
NWDA is also discussing with the county council and Lancaster city council specific traffic issues on the A6 south of Lancaster to Junction 33 of the M6. These discussions relate to proposals for development of the Lancaster Science Park adjacent to Lancaster university.
South East England Development Agency: Property
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 18 February 2008, Official Report, column 402W, on the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA): property, what the current ownership status is of the Ropetackle site in Shoreham-by-Sea; and how much revenue SEEDA received from the Enterprise Gateway Project at Ropetackle in Shoreham-by-Sea (a) directly and (b) through its agents in each of the last two years. [194162]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 14 March 2008]: SEEDA currently owns the freehold of the Ropetackle site in Shoreham-by-Sea.
Enterprise Gateways are not generating a revenue income as they are a business service provided free of charge. We interpret the question therefore as relating to the Adur Business Centre which is located on this site.
(a) No revenue was received by SEEDA direct, as this is handled by SEEDA's managing agents.
(b) No net income has been received by SEEDA from the managing agents as running costs for the business centre to date have exceed net income. The centre has generated gross revenue of £102,685 in 2006-07 and £208,140 in 2007/-08, and is expected to yield net income from 2008-09 onwards.
Winter Fuel Allowance
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the average percentage of winter heating costs covered by the winter fuel allowance for those pensioners who use (a) liquid petroleum gas and (b) fuel heating oil to heat their homes in each year since 2002; and what estimate he has made of the average annual fuel costs of households using each such fuel. [193375]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not available.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Business
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what his Department’s planned expenditure on business support, promotion of enterprise and economic development is for each year from 2007-08 to 2010-11; and which elements of this expenditure are planned to be funded through regional development agencies’ single pot. [179232]
Bill Rammell: The DIUS contribution to RDA funding in 2007-08 is £44.5 million, and supplements the funding provided by the former DTI (now the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform), CLG and DEFRA. The DIUS contribution to the RDA single pot across the CSR07 years is shown as follows:
| £ million | |
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