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21 Apr 2008 : Column 1744W—continued
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) surveys, (b) questionnaires and (c) other services were provided by polling companies for his Department in financial year 2007-08, broken down by company. [200024]
Margaret Hodge: The following table shows services provided to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport by polling companies for financial year 2007-08.
| Services | |||
| Polling c ompany | Surveys | Questionnaires | Other |
Departmental Research
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on research in each of the last three years, broken down by policy area or departmental division. [199828]
Margaret Hodge: Our records show the following research spends broken down by financial year and by departmental division.
| Division | Research spend (£000) |
| (1) Includes US$83,000 estimated as £46,000 | |
Departmental Sick Leave
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many of his Department’s staff took more than (a) five, (b) 10, (c) 15, (d) 20, (e) 25, (f) 30, (g) 35 and (h) 40 days leave due to stress in each of the last five years, broken down by pay grade. [198967]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, the percentage of stress-related sick leave taken by staff in the last three financial years is as follows:
| Percentage of sick leave | |
As part of our attendance, health and welfare programme for staff, we have a range of policies in place to reduce stress. These include: a stress management policy; a revised sickness absence policy; a full range of flexible working patterns to support work-life balance; an on-site gym and yoga classes.
The Department also provides an Employee Assistance programme, which includes a confidential advisory service and counselling service for all staff.
Departmental Standards
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which of his Department’s public sector agreement targets have been discontinued following his speech on 7 November 2007 at the Equity Diversity conference. [198819]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Public service agreements (PSAs) are agreed between Departments and HM Treasury as part of each spending review. Details of the most recent PSAs, agreed as part of comprehensive spending review 2007, were published in the CSR White Paper on 9 October 2007, copies of which are available in the House Library. As part of the CSR process the number of PSAs across Government was reduced from over a hundred to thirty. No PSAs have been discontinued following the 7 November 2007 speech by my right hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (James Purnell).
Departmental Telephone Services
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public are in use by (i) his Department and (ii) agencies which report to his Department. [200122]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Neither my Department nor the Royal Parks Agency has any 0800, 0845 or 0870 numbers for public use.
Digital Broadcasting: Radio
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many times the Digital Radio Working Group taskforce has met in 2008; and how much has been spent on its administration since November 2007. [198229]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 1 April 2008]: The Digital Radio Working Group (DRWG) has met once in full session since November 2007. However, the DRWG has established four sub-groups to consider the following issues:
Technology and Consumer Proposition;
Spectrum;
Manufacturers; and
Mechanisms for Growth
These sub-groups have met five times in total.
My Department has spent approximately £4,500 directly on the work of the DRWG to date.
Digital Switchover Help Scheme
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he plans to complete his assessment of the costs and benefits of upgrading his core research requirements for digital switchover help scheme freeview resources to include billing menus, billing channels and programme information; and when he plans to make a decision on this matter. [199526]
Andy Burnham: An Emerging Technologies Group (ETC) has been established as a sub-group of the Help Scheme’s Policy Review Group, with a remit to keep the Core Receiver Requirements (CRR) for Scheme equipment under review.
This review process will be ongoing throughout the lifetime of the Help Scheme, evaluating any technical developments in digital television provision. If the ETC believes that a particular technology should be included within the CRR, then it will make a recommendation to that effect to the Policy Review Group.
The equipment for the Help Scheme already includes the ability to receive an Electronic Programme Guide, which enables programme information to be displayed on screen.
Disabled
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what targets his Department has set in relation to the employment of people with disabilities over the next five years. [199048]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department has disability targets set across the civil service grades until the end of April 2008 as follows.
| Percentage | |
We are currently reviewing these targets for the next three years to ensure they are challenging to the Department.
English Heritage: Research
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the aims of the Hearth and Home research project by English Heritage are; and if he will make a statement. [199367]
Margaret Hodge: English Heritage's Hearth and Home research project aims to compare the predictions from models with the actual performance of traditionally constructed homes in order to challenge the assertion that such buildings are inherently energy inefficient. The project will monitor the energy usage of a group of occupied Victorian terraced homes to work out best practice in measuring energy efficiency, to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of energy-saving options, and ultimately to provide guidance on measures to reduce domestic fuel usage and carbon emissions.
Euclid
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much he expects his Department to pay to Euclid in each of the next three years. [199830]
Margaret Hodge: My Department expects to pay Euclid £50,000 per year, for the next two years for its work as the UK’s Cultural Contact Point (CCP) for the European Union’s Culture Programme. The current CCP contract runs until December 2009. Euclid also holds the contract to promote the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue in the UK. The cost of this contract was a one-off payment of £10,000.
Film: Video Piracy
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether he intends to introduce legislation to make the use of a video camera in a cinema a criminal offence. [199086]
Margaret Hodge: Camcording for commercial gain is already an offence under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, but the existing offences require proof of “distributing” or “communicating”. The distribution of illegally camcorded films is also an offence under a range of other legislation, including the Fraud Act 2006. We will be considering in consultation with the film industry what further action is necessary to address its concerns.
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate his Department has made of the annual loss to the UK film industry as a result of intellectual property theft. [199089]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Government’s strategy for the creative sector “Creative Britain: New Talents for the New Economy”, published in February, states that the value of pirate audio-visual goods and illegal downloads in 2006 was £460 million. This reflects the findings of the 2006 British Video Association/IPSOS study.
Football: Insurance
Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will bring forward proposals to require the Football Association to establish a national insurance scheme to cover injuries caused to one player by another player in matches organised by county football associations. [199276]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The FA currently has no plans to establish a county football association national insurance scheme.
The FA reviewed this issue in 2006 and took the decision to make liability insurance mandatory for all affiliated clubs with effect from season 2007-08.
The FA explored the possibility of a liability insurance scheme for all those participating in the national game below the FA Premier League, Football League and National League system levels 1 to 4. The scope of the insurance cover required by county associations was reviewed, and the FA says this confirmed that a centrally arranged scheme would be impracticable.
The FA decided that county associations should comply with the implementation of mandatory public liability insurance, with the option to decide locally the level of cover and indemnity limits required.
The review also included a tender process to identify insurance brokers prepared to offer county associations a range of public liability options including player to player cover.
I intend to raise this issue with the FA at our next meeting.
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