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14 July 2008 : Column 94W—continued
English Sports Council: Expenditure
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many projects have received funding from Sport England’s Community Projects Revenue Fund since 1999; and what estimate he has made of the number of people who participated in those projects. [217167]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Sport England has advised that the Community Projects Revenue Fund is a generic term for a series of funding streams including Sports Action Zones and other community initiatives, and not a single funding stream for which such information is centrally held.
Sport England has advised that 384 projects were supported through the Active Communities Development Fund, Sports Action Zones and Active Sports. Sport England advise that no estimate has been made of the number of people who have benefited from these projects.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many awards Sport England made to projects encouraging (a) school, (b) after-school and (c) community club links in each year since 1999. [217168]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Sport England has advised that it does not hold the information in the format required. However, awards have been made to a number of National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of Sport to support the school club links workstrand of the Government’s PE and School Sport for Young People programme.
These awards enable the NGBs to create and develop links between schools and community sports clubs, with the aim of increasing the number of children aged 5-16 years participating in community sport. In total, £14,646,859 million is being invested.
The number of NGBs receiving awards has been as follows:
| Financial year | Number |
Sport England has advised that it also funded a total of 1,656 projects as part of the Community Club Development Programme (CCDP) in the period 2003 to 2008. Projects funded as part of the programme must demonstrate links to school and after-school activity. Sport England has committed a total of £100,221,827 investment into Community Club Development Programme between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2008.
Fast Track
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what services Fast Track supplies to his Department; and at what cost. [218383]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department is at an advanced stage of negotiations with Fast Track regarding their role in raising £100 million from the private sector to support elite athletes.
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what meetings (a) he, (b) other Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have had with representatives of Fast Track since February. [218385]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
Since February, the Secretary of State has met Fast Track on three occasions: on 3 April,
2 July and 9 July. I also met Fast Track on 3 April and 2 July. There have been frequent meetings between officials and Fast Track.
Festivals and Special Occasions
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on promoting (a) St Patrick’s Day, (b) St David’s Day, (c) Eid, (d) Diwali and (e) Hanukkah in the last year. [218391]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There has been no cost to the Department on promoting St. Patrick’s Day, St. David’s Day, Eid, Diwali or Hanukkah in the last year. The Department has a calendar of religious festivals on its intranet site which is accessible to all staff.
Fish
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much fish was procured by his Department and at what cost in each of the last five years, broken down by species; and what amount and value of such fish met the Marine Stewardship Council standard in each such year, broken down by species. [217901]
Margaret Hodge: The Department holds the information set out relating to fish purchased in financial year 2007-08. Information is not available for previous years.
| Product | Approximate w eight (kg) 2007-08 | Total c ost 2007-08 (£) | Marine Stewardship Council Standard |
Government Art Collection
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will place in the Library the minutes of all meetings of the Government Art Collection Committee where the decoration and art work in No. 10 Downing Street were discussed since January 2007. [215049]
Margaret Hodge: There is no Government Art Collection Committee to discuss the decoration and works of art in No. 10 Downing street. The Government Art Collection (GAC) advise on the pictures to be hung in 10 Downing street. The pictures are changed periodically as those loaned to the house are returned to the collection from which they have been drawn.
Licensing: Circuses
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the Licensing Act 2003 on travelling circuses; what steps he plans to take to mitigate any negative effects; and if he will make a statement. [217526]
Mr. Sutcliffe: We are committed to action on many of the irritations about the application process which were highlighted by circuses in their helpful responses to our survey last year. For example, we intend to bring forward shortly a new minor variations process that will, among other things, allow a quicker and lower cost mechanism for altering plans. We are also looking at how we can make aspects of the application process more flexible and less costly, including the greater use of electronic applications.
While our priority is to progress the commitments in our simplification plan, we will also start to look at possible alternative arrangements which better reflect the nature of travelling entertainment performed at multiple sites. Any such changes would, of course, require full public consultation and would have to be supported by a full impact assessment.
Listed Buildings
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding was available for the upkeep of (a) Grade I, (b) Grade II and (c) Grade III listed buildings in (i) Ribble Valley constituency, (ii) Lancashire and (iii) England in the last three years. [212816]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 20 June 2008]: There are three types of funding available for the upkeep of listed buildings, through English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. Total spend cannot always easily be broken down by geographical area, but where possible this has been provided.
1. English Heritage have provided the following information on the funding they have made available for the upkeep of historic buildings in each of the last three years:
| £ | ||
| England | North West region | |
These funds were the total available across all the relevant English Heritage grant schemes from which buildings at all grades might benefit. However, English Heritage's resources are largely focused on Grade I and Grade 2* buildings. Grade 3 is no longer in use as an official classification although some local authorities use it to denote local interest.
English Heritage's budget is allocated regionally and so more detailed information is not available for Lancashire or Ribble Valley. English Heritage's north-west region comprises Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester/Lancashire and Merseyside.
2. The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) funds projects which conserve, and enable more people to take part in, take decisions about and learn about the UK's heritage.
HLF administers a number of competitive open grants programmes under which listed buildings can be funded—either as separate projects in their own right, or as part of broader projects through HLF's thematic grants programmes such as Parks for People, the Townscape Heritage Initiative and the Landscape Partnerships scheme. HLF may fund the conservation
and restoration of a listed building provided the application meets all the criteria of the relevant programme.
HLF ring-fences an element of its funding for decision in each English region and Scotland/Wales and Northern Ireland, and also has nationwide programmes funded from separate UK-wide pots. Funding is not ring-fenced on a constituency or county level. Details of available funding, as provided by HLF, are as follows:
| £ | |||||
| Funding available under programmes which can fund listed buildings | |||||
| FY | Ring-fenced to north-west | Nine English regions ring-fenced budgets( 1) | Additional UK-wide budget | Funding available for listed buildings in north-west( 2) | Funding available for listed buildings in England( 3) |
| (1) Includes north-west ring-fenced budget. (2) Ring-fenced north-west budget plus additional UK-wide budget. (3) Nine ring-fenced English regional budgets plus UK-wide budget. | |||||
3. The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme makes grants equivalent to the VAT incurred in making repairs to listed buildings in use as places of worship. It is not possible to identify the scheme's expenditure in the Ribble Valley constituency, or identify the spend by listing grade.
| £ | |||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
Oceanic House
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made on the disposal of Oceanic House. [218388]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Negotiations are currently taking place with the landlord of Oceanic House about an early surrender of the lease. If these are unsuccessful the property will be placed on the open market.
Personal Injury
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the highest 10 payments made by his Department in settlement of personal injury claims brought against it were over the last 12 months for which figures are available; which of those cases were (a) contested and (b) uncontested by the Department; and what the nature of the incident was in each case. [216675]
Margaret Hodge: In the Department for Culture, Media and Sport there have been no personal injury claims brought during the last 12 months.
Public Houses
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether he has conducted or evaluated research on the contribution of public houses to British culture. [218523]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department has not conducted formal research into the contribution of public houses to British culture, but it maintains extensive contacts with representatives of the on-trade and recognises the importance of public houses within many communities.
The Department ensures that other Government Departments are aware of the social and economic importance of the pub industry so that decisions taken by them which impact on the on-trade are properly informed. We look forward to considering the findings of the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group Inquiry into Community Pubs.
Sports: Finance
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made towards the Government's target of securing £20 million per year of funding for elite sport from private sponsorship. [218384]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department continues to work with UK Sport and others in the development of proposals to secure funding from the private sector.
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