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7 July 2009 : Column 647W—continued
Leader of the House
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
Jo Swinson: To ask the Leader of the House what her estimate is of the annual cost of running the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. [284616]
Barbara Keeley: The budget for the Authority has not been finalised but will be made public as soon as possible.
Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Leader of the House what discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues on the schedule for the establishment of a Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy; and if she will make a statement. [284652]
Barbara Keeley: Having consulted on this matter, the Government intend to bring forward proposals for the establishment of a Committee soon. We intend that the Committee should have time to consider the 2009 update to the National Security Strategy and to make recommendations for subsequent updates.
Regional Select Committees
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Leader of the House with reference to paragraph 20, Chapter 1, of Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654, what proposals she has for building upon the accountability of the system of regional government to regional Select Committees in the House. [283954]
Barbara Keeley: Regional Select Committees began work in March and April this year. Three of the eight Committees are conducting inquiries that focus primarily on the work of regional development agencies; the others are conducting wider-ranging inquiries into the economic conditions in the region, which will touch on the work of regional development agencies.
The Government will continue to observe developments in the regional Select Committees as their inquiries progress.
International Development
Departmental Manpower
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many members of his Department's staff deployed in each region of Iraq (a) have been trained in each year since 2001 and (b) are being trained in each local Iraqi language. [283521]
Mr. Michael Foster: Records of language training carried out since 2001 have not been retained. Currently two Department for International Development (DFID) officials in Baghdad are taking part-time Arabic language classes.
There are also three Arabic-speaking Iraqi nationals working for DFID in Baghdad. In Basra, DFID employs two Arabic-speaking Iraqi nationals, and one further is being recruited.
DFID has employed over 40 Arabic-speaking Iraqi nationals in Iraq since 2001.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many members of his Department's staff deployed in each region of Afghanistan (a) have been trained in each year since 2001 and (b) are being trained in each local Afghan language. [283520]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not keep records of how many people have been trained in Afghan languages since 2001. Such training is frequently informal or organised privately by the individuals concerned.
DFID currently has seven UK-based staff members working in Kabul currently learning Dari, the official language of Afghanistan alongside Pashtu. In addition, we employ 16 locally engaged staff who are native Dari/Pashtu speakers in Kabul and one in Lashkar Gah. We also have access to Afghan translators for both languages in both Kabul and Lashkar Gah.
DFID provides over 95 per cent. of the funding for the cross-departmental Stabilisation Unit. It has 18 Pashtu and 21 Dari speakers on its database of deployable civilian experts. Two Pashtu speakers are currently deployed in Helmand.
Overseas Aid
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of his Department's bilateral aid to each recipient country is (a) budgetary and (b) project support in 2008-09. [283964]
Mr. Michael Foster: A detailed breakdown of the Department for International Development’s (DFID) bilateral aid to each recipient country by aid-type is published in “Statistics on International Development”, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House or via DFID’s website:
Culture, Media and Sport
Arts
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what role he expects (a) the Youth Culture Trust and (b) Creativity Culture and Education to have in the (i) Find your Talent and (ii) Creative Partnerships scheme. [284660]
Barbara Follett: As Creativity Culture and Education are still in the process of delivering the “Find Your Talent” pathfinders and Creative Partnerships scheme, the Youth Culture Trust has not yet been established.
This is because the purpose of the Youth Culture Trust is to deliver on the vision of “Find Your Talent” and the precise administrative arrangements for this will not be finalised until the scale and purpose of the programme beyond the pathfinders has been finalised.
Children
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding has been allocated to encourage children to adopt more active lifestyles in (a) Test Valley Borough and (b) Southampton in the last 12 months. [283320]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Sport England have advised that the following initiatives have received funding to encourage children to adopt more active lifestyles in (a) Test Valley and (b) Southampton in the last 12 months.
Sport Unlimited is an integral part of the Government’s PE and Sport Strategy for Young People. The overall aim of Sport Unlimited is to increase opportunities for children and young people aged five to 19 to participate regularly in sport.
It will do this by providing a range of attractive and sustainable opportunities in sporting activities for young people to take part in out of school hours during term time and will focus on out of school hours and club activities both within school and community settings.
In Southampton, approximately £36,428 is allocated this financial year to deliver projects across the city. In addition, approximately £12,400 has been allocated to the Test Valley. Both areas will also benefit from the Leadership and Volunteering award. Sport England allocated £22,000 to the County Sports Partnership.
Awards for All allocated £9,300 to set up a rugby club for young people and adults with learning difficulties. Funding was for kit and equipment with the aim of providing opportunities for members to participate in training and competitive tag rugby matches in a safe and fun environment.
(iii) Other Sport England funding
Southampton Amateur Gym Club was awarded £8,414 from the Community Club Development Programme and Eastleigh Football in the Community was awarded £10,500 Sportsmatch funding.
Southampton unitary authority has opted in to the under 16 and over 60 Free Swimming Programme and has received £173,211. The local authorities that have opted to offer the scheme to both age groups have also received a share of a £10 million capital fund to spend on modernising or improving pool provision. Southampton has received £69,290 in this regard.
Cricket: Schools
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate (a) Chance to Shine and (b) his Department has made of the percentage of schools which are playing competitive inter-school fixtures with hard cricket balls. [284233]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 3 July 2009]: My Department has made no estimate of the percentage of schools which are playing competitive inter-school fixtures with hard cricket balls. Sport England have advised that they do not collect data on the percentage of schools which play competitive inter-school fixtures with hard cricket balls.
Culture: Education
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what expenditure his Department has incurred on the Find Your Talent scheme in (a) total and (b) each of the 10 pathfinder regions to date. [284661]
Barbara Follett: The total expenditure on Find Your Talent to date is approximately £6,833,601, of which approximately £6,389,301 has been spent on the 10 pathfinders. The breakdown is set out in the following table.
| Pathfinder | Total to date (£) |
Demos
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) private meetings and (b) public engagements Ministers in his Department have attended at which representatives from the think-tank Demos were present in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [279512]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Departmental Older Workers
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff in his Department will reach the age of 65 years in the year 2011. [283363]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 1 July 2009]: No employees at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will reach the age of 65 by the year 2011.
Digital Switchover Help Scheme
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his Department's estimate is of the level of under-spend over the whole period of the Digital Switchover Help Scheme, as referred to in the Digital Britain report; and how this estimate has been arrived at. [283164]
Mr. Bradshaw: The National Audit Office estimated an underspend of around £250 million in 2008 based on the take-up rate of the Help Scheme during the switchover at Whitehaven and Copeland. We have since had continuing discussions with the BBC Help Scheme about take up rates in subsequent switchovers and other cost drivers, and these confirm that this is a robust estimate of the eventual underspend. After switchover in the Granada TV region is completed at the end of 2009, when a significant proportion and representative sample of households will have switched over, we will conduct a further stock-take of the position.
Football Foundation
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Sport England has paid to the Football Foundation in each of the last three years; and what payments he expects to be made in each of the next three years. [284234]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 3 July 2009]: Sport England advise that in the last three years it has funded the Football Foundation for capital and revenue projects as follows:
2006-07: £20,675,000 (Exchequer) + £2,500,000 (Lottery)
2007-08: £16,000,000 (Exchequer) + £2,500,000 (Lottery)
2008-09: £17,500,000 (Exchequer)
In addition the Football Foundation received the following Exchequer payments on behalf of the Football Association under the Community Club Development Programme, a programme administered by Sport England:
2006-07: £1,388,784
2007-08: £2,307,495
2008-09: £4,047,670
Sport England is currently in negotiation with the Football Foundation over its funding agreement for 2009-13.
Hotels
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make an assessment of trends in demand for hotels in the UK with (a) up to 20 bedspaces, (b) 21 to 100 bedspaces and (c) 101 or more bedspaces over the last 10 years. [283822]
Barbara Follett: DCMS has not undertaken an assessment of this kind in respect of hotels in the UK, and has no plans to do so.
Licensed Premises
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will take steps to reduce the time required for applicants to complete a premises licence application. [283340]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has no plans to reduce the time period during which a premises licence application under the Licensing Act 2003 can be considered by interested parties and responsible authorities. Those with a legitimate interest, such as local residents and the police, need sufficient time to consider applications and make representations.
However, the Department is currently developing proposals to enable fully electronic applications which will have the potential to significantly reduce the cost and time associated with completing and submitting an application form. In the longer term, we are also committed to reviewing the forms themselves to see whether they can be simplified and shortened.
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