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13 May 2008 : Column 1437W—continued
| b) Grant in aid income allocated In the form of (i) grants and (ii) regular funding | |||
| Grant in aid income (£000) | Gran t in aid grants as a percentage of g r ant in aid income (£000) | Grant in aid to regularly funded organisations as a percentage of grant in aid income (£000) | |
| (c) National Lottery income allocated in the form of (i) grants and (ii) regular funding | |||
| Lottery income (£000) | Lottery grants as a percentage of Lottery income (£000) | Lottery grants for regularly funded organisations as a percentage of Lottery income (£000) | |
Consultants
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what payments VisitBritain made to Connect Public Affairs in each of the last five years; on what dates; and for what purpose in each case. [202284]
Margaret Hodge: VisitBritain has provided the following information about the dates, amounts and purpose of payments made by them to Connect Public Affairs during the last five years:
Internet: Direct Mail
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of spam on the internet. [200677]
Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
The Information Commissioner's Office has responsibility for enforcing the regulations that control unsolicited e-mails (spam) and considers complaints about breaches. A breach of an enforcement notice is a criminal offence that can attract a maximum fine of up to £5,000.
Spam is a global problem and one which, it is estimated, accounts for over 80 per cent. of all internet traffic(1). Much spam originates outside the UK. For that reason, the steps we can take in the UK to reduce its incidence are limited.
However, my Department has frequent discussions with internet service providers (ISPs) on improving filters and other mechanisms to prevent mischievous traffic reaching their customers, and making end users more aware of the tools available to them to counter spam. Many ISPs have specific spam mail boxes where individuals can report and complain about specific e-mails, as well as offering filtering software which can be used to prevent spam being received.
( 1 ) Source:
Symantech—The State of Spam—April 2008.
Internet: Suffolk
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what percentage of homes in rural Suffolk have access to (a) dial-up internet connections, (b) broadband connections and (c) high-speed broadband connections; [201496]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of households in Suffolk without access to the internet, broken down by income band. [201494]
Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
The matter raised is the responsibility of the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which is accountable to Parliament rather than Ministers. 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.
Theatres: Kent
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of the effect of Arts Council England's regional theatre policy on theatres in Kent. [195143]
Margaret Hodge: Arts Council England is responsible for assessing the impact of its policies on individual art forms.
Arts Council England does recognise the potential effect of its investment strategy on theatre in Kent. The Arts Council is committed to making the highest quality arts available to the widest possible audience throughout Kent and is currently exploring a number of ideas on how best to build theatre activity in the area.
Arts Council England will continue to support organisations such as the New Marlowe in Canterbury, Margate Theatre Royal, Gulbenkian Theatre in Canterbury, and the Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells through a number of schemes including Grants for the Arts, the Arts Councils scheme for funding one off projects to individuals and organisations.
Visual Arts: Finance
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on art storage in each of the last five years. [204149]
Margaret Hodge: Between 70 per cent. to 75 per cent. of the Government Art Collection's works of art are out on display at any one time. The remaining works available for selection are held at the GAC's premises. A small number of works of art are too large to be housed at the GAC and are in commercial storage. There is an active programme of taking these large works of art out of storage and placing them on display in suitable buildings.
The Government Art Collection spent the following on storage charges in the last five years.
| £ | |
House of Commons Commission
Catering
Mr. Oaten: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what proportion of chicken served in the House of Commons estate was produced under the RSPCA's Freedom Food scheme in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if the Commission will make it its policy to provide such figures annually. [205255]
Nick Harvey: Since January 2008, the House of Commons Catering Service has secured a supply of chicken produced under the RSPCA's Freedom Food scheme, and this now accounts for almost 40 per cent. of the Department's purchases of fresh chicken meat. The quality, reliability and relative affordability of this supply has enabled the Department to move forward from a position in 2007 when less than 10 per cent. of chicken supplied for the House of Commons restaurants met higher welfare standards consistent with those developed by the RSPCA.
Subject to availability and affordability constraints, the Catering Service aspires to further increase the proportion of higher welfare chicken purchased, and met with representatives of Freedom Food earlier this month to discuss how this might be achieved.
The Commission does not publish detailed food procurement statistics, but the director of Catering and Retail Services will be happy to provide periodic details about the proportion of chicken sourced from RSPCA Freedom Food approved sources. The director has suggested that this could be published as part of a regular update on food provenance issues that is being developed for the Catering and Retail Services intranet pages.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what proportion of meat produce served in the House of Commons was Freedom Food-approved in the most recent period for which figures are available. [205256]
Nick Harvey: All fresh meat served in the House of Commons is sourced from producers that demonstrate high levels of animal welfare under an accredited farm assurance scheme such as the ‘Red Tractor’ scheme, which encompasses ‘Assured British Pigs’ and ‘Assured British Meat’. All pork is free range.
Other than chicken, no meat currently served in the House of Commons restaurants is accredited under the RSPCA's Freedom Foods scheme. However, the director of Catering and Retail Services met with Freedom Food representatives earlier this month to discuss the supply of pork, beef and lamb and to identify ways of working together to establish a supply chain.
Drinking Water
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how much was spent per day on bottled water on the parliamentary estate in the most recent period for which figures are available. [201264]
Nick Harvey: Daily expenditure on bottled water is not recorded across the parliamentary estate. Annual expenditure by the House of Commons for 2007-08 and an approximate daily cost based on the number of working days in 2007-08 are as follows:
| £ | |
In addition, the total cost of bottled water purchased by Catering and Retail Services for sale to customers during the same period was £32,979.
Communities and Local Government
Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire and Rescue Authority: Finance
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations she has received on Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire and Rescue Authority funding for 2008-09. [204358]
John Healey: The consultation period on the 2008-09 and provisional 2009-10 and 2010-11 local government finance settlements ran between 6 December 2007 and 8 January 2008.
During this consultation period, we received three representations from Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire and Rescue Authority.
The representations contained points on the population data used in the settlements, transitional funding and the overall financial settlement.
Construction: Fraud
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate her Department has made of the cost to local authorities of collusion, bid rigging or cover pricing by the construction sector in the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [204506]
John Healey: The OFT is currently carrying out an investigation into such allegations in construction in both the public and private sectors. No specific estimate has been made for the cost to local authorities.
Council Tax
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households are liable for council tax and are not exempt or in receipt of 100 per cent. council tax benefit. [204517]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 11 December 2007, Official Report, column 541W.
Data for Wales are available on the Welsh Assembly Government website.
Council Tax: Tax Allowances
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list each type of local council tax discount introduced by billing authorities under the Local Government Act 2003 in the most recent financial year for which figures are available. [204507]
John Healey: Details of the types of local council tax discount that were being awarded by billing authorities under the Local Government Act 2003 as at 8 October 2007, the latest date for which figures are available, are listed as follows. At this date, 37 authorities reported they were making local council tax discounts to either individuals or a particular class of taxpayer. The discounts shown may have been awarded by one or more authority.
Particular classes of taxpayer or property:
Pensioners;
Properties affected by flooding;
Various classes of empty properties;
Single occupiers who are called up for 28 days or more as members of the reserve forces;
Those to whom, because they have been affected by the change in regulations since a discount was originally awarded, a discount has been awarded so as to not disadvantage them;
Properties that are no one person's sole or main residence where access is restricted;
Occupied and unoccupied furnished properties that do not have the benefit of mains services including beach chalets;
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