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12 Feb 2009 : Column 2275W—continued
Culture, Media and Sport
Art Works: Loans
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of those who have taken advantage of the Own Art loan scheme fall into each of the scheme's eligibility criteria. [255904]
Barbara Follett: The Own Art scheme is run by Arts Council England and is open to all UK residents over the age of 18. The scheme aims to support, in particular, the following priority groups:
First-time buyers of contemporary art or craft
Those on income levels equivalent to or below the national average of £22,500 who might otherwise be unable afford to buy original works of art.
The Arts Council has advised that the percentage of customers who fall into each priority group is as follows.
| Percentage | ||||
| Priority group | 2004-05 to 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09( 1) |
| (1) April - December 2008 | ||||
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people have taken out loans as part of the Own Art scheme in each of the last three years; and what the total value of the loans was in each year. [255905]
Barbara Follett: The Own Art scheme is run by Arts Council England and launched in April 2004. The Arts Council advises that over 12,000 customers have used the scheme for the purchase of work of contemporary art and craft valued in excess of £8.2 million. Sales for the current financial year to date total £1.67 million (2,041 loans). Figures for the preceding three full financial years are detailed in the following table.
| Number of loans | Value of loans (£) | |
Arts Council of England: Property
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) buildings and (b) land are leased by Arts Council England; and what estimate has been made of the value of these assets. [250256]
Barbara Follett: Arts Council England has advised that it owns the freehold on a section of land in the London Southbank area covering the area of the Southbank Centre (SBC) and British Film Institute (BFI), and an area covering the Royal National Theatre (RNT). All the land is leased to the Southbank Centre, British Film Institute and Royal National Theatre at no cost to them. Arts Council England, as freeholder, has no development rights and cannot derive any revenue for the duration of the 150 years leases. They therefore advise that the land on the South Bank therefore has no realistic or bankable value to them, and that they have made no estimate of the value of these assets.
Where leaseholders sublet space and generate revenue, as in case of the Southbank Centre, information on the revenues received is primarily a matter for the body in question. Further information can be found in the relevant annual accounts. The most recent published annual accounts for the Southbank Centre are available at the following link:
Arts: Finance
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in respect of which projects (a) the Arts Council, (b) the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, (c) Sport England and (d) English Heritage (i) received ring-fenced funding in 2008-09 and (ii) are planned to receive such funding in each of the next three years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of funding each such project in each year. [254592]
Andy Burnham: At the conclusion of Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 (CSR07) negotiations, the following funding depicted as being ring-fenced was approved:
| £ million | ||||
| Body | Purpose | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
Additionally, the following amounts were agreed for project-specific work during the current CSR period (2008-09 to 2010-11):
Funding in 2011-12 for the four bodies in question falls outside of the current spending review period, and will be decided at a later date following detailed negotiation.
British Film Institute: Finance
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding (a) his Department and (b) Arts Council England provided to the British Film Institute in each of the last five years; and how much came from (i) Exchequer funding and (ii) the National Lottery in each such year. [249418]
Barbara Follett: The information is as follows:
(a) The British Film Institute is funded by the UK Film Council from its annual grant in aid allocation awarded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
(i) The UK Film Council provided the following grant-in-aid funding to the British Film Institute in each of the last five years:
| Exchequer funding (£) | |
| (1) Included a £2.5 million one-off grant towards refurbishment and conversion of National Film Theatre and Museum of the Moving Image into BFI Southbank | |
(ii) The British Film Institute has bid for and received the following Lottery funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the UK Film Council for specific projects:
| Lottery Funding (£) | |
Arts Council England has advised that it provided the following funding to the BFI in each of the last five years:
| £ | |||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
Broadband
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to increase access to broadband for (a) lower income households with children of school age, (b) pensioner households and (c) people with a disability. [250605]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 22 January 2009]: I have been asked to reply.
The Prime Minister appointed the Secretary of State for Wales, as Minister for Digital Inclusion last year because the Government recognise this as a very important challenge facing the UK.
Since taking on the role, the Digital Inclusion Minister has formed a dedicated Cabinet committee, MISC 34, he has established a cross-government coordination unit, and Government have engaged a wide range of stakeholders in developing the cross-government report “Delivering Digital Inclusion—An Action plan for Consultation”
in order to have a coherent and concerted drive to address digital inclusion and increase access to broadband/digital technologies for (a) lower income households with children (b) pensioners households (c) people with disabilities.
The action plan details over 70 Government actions taking place to advance digital inclusion and future actions being considered by Government to facilitate access and skills to digital technologies for disadvantaged groups and individuals in The annex:
of the report. The consultation was launched on 27 October 2008 and was meant to close on 19 January but has been extended to 26 January at the request of stakeholders. Government are currently analysing responses to inform further progress.
Government are working with industry and Ofcom towards ensuring the right environment for the creation of innovative broadband content. We will set out guidance on broadband content procurement by the public sector, informed by an industry perspective. The Digital Britain report is looking at the issue of media literacy, future access to digital communications, availability of information, and the ability to interact with vast communities of people, regardless of location so the UK can remain a world leader in digital services. An interim report will be published in late January, early February which will lay out the road of travel. A full report will be published in the summer 2009.
Departmental Buildings
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will place in the Library a copy of the (a) display energy certificates and (b) advisory reports for public buildings issued in respect of each property occupied by (i) his Department and (ii) its agency. [256044]
Mr. Sutcliffe: My Department will place in the Library a copy of the display energy certificates and their associated advisory reports in respect of each property occupied by my Department and its agency, as soon as they are available.
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