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25 Mar 2008 : Column 83W—continued
Betting: Enforcement
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he has had with the betting industry on plans to re-apportion the costs of policing sports betting; and if he will make a statement. [196335]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have had no meetings with the betting industry specifically on this issue.
The Gambling Commission is responsible for regulating betting in Great Britain and in May 2007 they published a consultation on Integrity in Sports Betting. In October 2007 the Commission published responses to this consultation, which broadly concluded that there was not enough evidence of the link between sports betting and integrity issues.
On 18 March 2008, the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) held a seminar to raise awareness of the betting industry's work in this area and the procedures they have in place to identify and report suspicious betting activity.
The Government favour voluntary arrangements between the sports and betting industries in addressing this
issue. However, the Commission continues to gather intelligence on all gambling integrity issues and is keeping the situation under review.
Casinos: Licensing
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether he plans to change licensing conditions for land-based casinos. [195401]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 19 March 2008]: The Secretary of State may attach mandatory and default licence conditions to casino premises licences and may also attach licence conditions to operating licences. Any changes to the current licence conditions would normally be made only after three months consultation and would require approval by Parliament. No such consultation on changes is under way.
In pursuing the three licensing objectives set out in the Gambling Act 2005, the Gambling Commission may also attach licence conditions to operating licences through its Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). The Gambling Commission is already conducting a review of LCCP and will begin a public consultation on proposed changes in April 2008. The revised version of LCCP will take effect early in 2009.
Cultural Heritage: Heraldry
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department is taking to prevent the export of the Dering Roll from the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [195728]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 20 March 2008]: The application for an export licence for the Dering Roll was recently considered by the Reviewing Committee for the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest. The Committee judged the Dering Roll to be of outstanding historical importance to the UK. They therefore recommended that the export licence be deferred. The Government accepted this recommendation and agreed to defer the licence.
A decision on the granting of the export licence will be deferred until 19 April, with the possibility of an extension to 19 July, during which time it is open to a UK individual or organisation to raise funds to match the recommended price of the Roll (£192,500) and therefore ensure that this item remains in the UK.
Culture
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the number of local authority (a) museums, (b) galleries, (c) heritage sites, (d) archives and (e) libraries that (i) have closed since 1997 and (ii) are earmarked for closure in 2008-09. [195393]
Margaret Hodge: Information on local authority museums, galleries, heritage sites, archives and libraries is not held centrally. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Brent, East (Sarah Teather) on 24 January 2008, Official Report, column 2174W, in respect of Public Library Statistics.
Any proposed closures in 2008-09 are a matter for the local authority concerned.
Dance
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he plans to publish the report of his Department’s dance review led by Tony Hall. [195394]
Margaret Hodge: Tony Hall’s Dance Review was published on 17 March 2008. In response to the review, Government announced that an investment of £5.5 million would be made to Youth Dance England to improve dance opportunities both in and beyond schools.
Government also committed to establishing six new centres of advanced training for exceptionally talented young people and to piloting dance co-ordinators within the school sport infrastructure to ensure high quality access for all children and young people. Leadership will come in the form of a new Government Dance Review Programme Board which will be tasked with taking forward the recommendations from the review.
Departmental Advertising
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which of his Department's initiatives have been advertised to the public in each of the last 10 years; and what the cost of each such campaign was. [192228]
Margaret Hodge: The Department has a zero spend on advertising campaigns to the public between 1997 and 2002. Expenditure in subsequent years is as follows:
| Campaign | Spend (£) | |
Departmental Sustainable Development
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when his Department plans to publish its sustainable operations policy statement. [195872]
Margaret Hodge: The Department will publish its sustainable operations policy statement as part of the Sustainable Development Action Plan due to be produced by early summer.
Departmental Working Hours
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many hours (a) in total and (b) on average per employee were worked by civil servants in his Department in the last year for which records are available. [195825]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The recording of hours worked is a function delegated to line managers and not held centrally by human resources. The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Digital Broadcasting: Television
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which areas of the country have no access to freeview digital television. [196697]
Andy Burnham: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom), as independent regulator for the communications sector. Accordingly, I have asked the chief executive of Ofcom to reply directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the chief executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Gambling
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether he plans to allow more permitted areas for gambling in the UK. [195405]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 19 March 2008]: There are no plans to allow more permitted areas.
Gambling: Advertising
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2008, Official Report, columns 149-50W, on television advertising, who is responsible for monitoring the gambling industry's voluntary code; when the code will come into force; whether all gambling industry sectors have agreed to this code; and whether gambling is currently advertised on television before the 9pm watershed. [195008]
Andy Burnham: The gambling industry's voluntary code for socially responsible advertising came into effect on 1 September 2007. The voluntary code is in addition to the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) code and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) code which are regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
There is wide industry support for the voluntary code and most sectors of the gambling industry, including the principal trade bodies for the casino, bingo, betting, gaming machine and remote gambling sectors, have agreed to it. An Industry Review Group, chaired by Business in Sport and Leisure (BiSL), is responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance with the code and keeping it under review.
The industry's voluntary code includes a 9 pm watershed on all broadcast gambling advertising, with exceptions for bingo and lottery advertisements which before 1 September 2007 were already permitted broadcast
advertising at any time and the advertising of sports betting around televised sporting events.
There has been a high level of compliance with the CAP and BCAP codes and the industry's voluntary code since 1 September 2007.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, dated 3 January, on the security of personal data of British nationals. [191222]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 3 March 2008]: We have no record of receipt of such a letter.
Rugby
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many rugby union coaches his Department has recorded as having (a) been recruited and (b) increased their qualifications in each of the last five years. [196332]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department does not hold data on the numbers of coaches recruited/qualified with individual sports governing bodies.
However, the following table details information held by Sport England on the numbers of qualified/active Rugby Football Union coaches between 2005-06 and 2007-08.
| Financial year | Qualified a ctive RFU c oaches |
DCMS has invested over £60 million into coaching in the five years up to 2008. Part of this funding has enabled us to establish over 3,000 community sports coaches.
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) men and (b) women have started playing rugby under the Go Play! scheme which his Department funds in each of the last three years. [196333]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Go Play Rugby programme is an initiative of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to recruit adult players.
Since its launch in July 2007, the scheme has successfully recruited over 9,000 new players of which approximately 840 are female.
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent on the Go Play! programme administered by the Rugby Football Union through (a) the Exchequer, (b) the National Lottery and (c) the National Sports Foundation funding. [196334]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The National Sports Foundation, which is Exchequer funded, has invested £500,000 into the Rugby Football Union's Go Play Rugby programme.
In addition, Sport England provided a lottery grant of £97,400 to support Go Play Rugby in the east midlands.
Sports: Taxation
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether his Department has had discussions with HM Treasury on a corporation tax exemption for sports national governing bodies in the last two years. [196331]
Mr. Sutcliffe: My Department has regular discussions with HM Treasury about tax proposals for its sectors. In 2008 these have included specific discussions about corporation tax and national governing bodies.
Prime Minister
Intelligence and Security Committee: Public Appointments
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Prime Minister whether the changes to the Intelligence and Security Committee indicated in the National Security Strategy will include a transfer of power to Parliament to appoint the Committee’s membership. [196433]
The Prime Minister: Detailed proposals for the reform of the Intelligence and Security Committee have been published today in the Governance of Britain White Paper (cm7342). These include proposals to enable Parliament to play a fuller role in the appointment of members to the Committee.
House of Commons Commission
Food: Procurement
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what estimate he has made of the (a) quantity and (b) percentage of (i) fruit, (ii) vegetables, (iii) bottled water, (iv) food products, (v) alcoholic drinks and (vi) other food products sourced by the Refreshment Department and its successor from suppliers outside the UK in the last year for which figures are available. [194556]
Nick Harvey: Many fruit and vegetables are purchased by individual piece or bunch, not by weight or any other consistent measure, and so it is not possible to give an overall estimate of the quantity of fruit and vegetables purchased. The following figures are best estimates of product origins in 2007. All suppliers are UK-based.
108 different fresh fruit products were purchased—total value £95,000.
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