| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
21 July 2009 : Column 1549W—continued
Arts: Manpower
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the number of redundancies in the creative industries in the last 12 months. [288528]
Mr. Simon: I have made no estimate of the number of redundancies in the creative industries in the last 12 months.
The Government's Future Jobs Fund aims to create 150,000 places in total and will create real jobs in interesting and socially worthwhile industries so people can get the skills and qualifications they need for jobs for the future.
The DCMS has announced it will contribute at least 10,000 jobs through its sectors, at least 5,000 of which will be in the cultural and creative industries.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people have been employed in the creative industries in each of the last five years. [288529]
Mr. Simon: Total creative employment in Great Britain in each of the last five years for which data are available is as follows:
| Total | |
| Source: DCMS Creative Industries Economics Estimates, January 2009 | |
Total creative employment includes all employment in the creative industries and additional employment in creative occupations in businesses outside the creative industries.
Bookmakers
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 3 July 2008, Official Report, column 1046W, on bookmakers, whether the outstanding issues have been resolved following the local negotiations; and if he will make a statement. [288003]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Local negotiations have taken place between a number of racecourses and the bookmakers who use them. However, these have not as yet resulted in the outstanding issues being resolved or agreements being reached on the allocation of pitches and the parties' duties and responsibilities from 1 September 2012.
I am encouraged by the recent proposal from Northern Racing to on-course bookmakers at its nine racecourses of a commercial deal to 2042. I believe this shows there is still room for local negotiations to result in agreements without the need for further Government intervention.
I am looking for racecourses and bookmakers to achieve meaningful progress and intend to reconvene the working party in due course to take stock.
Boxing: Diabetes
Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make an assessment of restrictions on participation in boxing at competition level by people with insulin-dependent diabetes. [287525]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Amateur Boxing Association of England's Medical Commission along with Diabetes UK have recently drafted a set of conditions on participation in boxing at competition level by people with insulin-treated diabetes. These conditions have been accepted, and adopted as rules, by the Amateur Boxing Association of England's Boxing Council.
Under these rules, all individuals with diabetes can compete as long as a diabetic specialist or doctor is in attendance who will care and monitor the diabetic participant.
Broadband: North Yorkshire
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent steps his Department has taken to provide the universal service obligation in respect of access to a broadband connection in (a) rural and (b) urban areas of North Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement. [286064]
Mr. McFadden: I have been asked to reply.
In the Digital Britain White Paper, the Government set out their plan of how the Universal Service Commitment in relation to broadband will be achieved, committing an anticipated £200 million of public funds to help deliver this with the remainder of the costs been met from the private sector through in-kind contributions, competitive commercial pricing through tender contract and design, and contributions from other public sector organisations.
The process will be delivered through an arms-length body, the Network Design and Procurement Group, who will be responsible for managing the procurement process and prioritising which areas receive additional support to enable them to reap the benefits of universal broadband access. The Government hope to confirm the appointment of a CEO for the Group in the autumn.
Casinos: Licensing
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2009, Official Report, columns 139-40W, on casinos: licensing, when he plans to issue guidance to licensing authorities on definitions of a gaming table in operation and ratios of gaming tables in use. [287909]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Regulations to define what will constitute a gaming table for the purposes of section 172(3) to 172(5) of the Gambling Act 2005 will be laid shortly. Should additional guidance be required then the Department will liaise with the Gambling Commission and licensing authorities on the best method for doing so.
Cricket: Schools
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many maintained (a) primary and (b) secondary schools have cricket as part of their physical education curriculum. [288779]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department for Children, Schools and Families have advised that the PE and sport survey collects data relating to the percentage of schools which offer certain sports for their pupils.
In this context, the last survey (2007-08) showed that 90 per cent. of all schools offer cricket for their pupils. This can be broken down into 88 per cent. of primary schools, and 98 per cent. of secondary schools. This has remained fairly constant over the last three years.
Culture: Education
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made towards every child taking part in five hours of cultural activity each week; and what estimate he has made of the number of school children who participate in five hours of cultural activity each week. [288458]
Barbara Follett: The Find Your Talent Pathfinder areas are trialling ways to deliver five hours of high-quality cultural experience to children and young people in their areas. They are almost one year into their three-year programmes. The Pathfinder activities run in parallel with a diverse range of national cultural education programmes, including significant investment in music education.
The figure for the numbers of children currently doing five hours across the whole country will be available from the results of the DCMS Taking Part Survey in October 2009. The Pathfinder areas are developing their own baseline figures for participation against which to compare this national figure.
Damian McBride
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what date he last met Mr. Damian McBride in the course of his official duties. [287397]
Departmental Billing
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of invoices from suppliers his Department paid within 10 days of receipt in June 2009. [288907]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The percentage of invoices paid within 10 days in June 2009 by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was 84 per cent.
Departmental Conditions of Employment
Lynne Featherstone:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of employees in his Department (a) are on a flexible
working contract, (b) are on a job share employment contract and (c) work from home for more than four hours a week. [287087]
Mr. Sutcliffe: (a) The Department has a policy of promoting flexible working arrangements. These are agreed at team and sector level and as such records of these arrangements are not kept centrally with human resources.
(b) There is currently one job share employment contract in place. This represents less than 1 per cent. of the total number of employees in the Department.
(c) 21 employees, or 4.5 per cent. of the total number of employees in the Department, currently work from home for more than four hours a week.
Departmental Finance
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what procedures his Department and its agencies have to assess the cost- effectiveness of grants which they make. [281238]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Ninety-seven per cent. of the Department's budget is allocated to the public bodies that help us to deliver our strategic aim and objectives. These bodies agree a high level three-year funding agreement with the Department, which explains what they will deliver for the funding allocated to them. The agreement summarises strategic priorities, key activities and outputs to be delivered, and is regularly reviewed.
The most up-to-date information about performance against departmental strategic objectives and public service agreements can be found in the Department's annual report and accounts, which were laid on the 16 July by HM Treasury.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2009, Official Report, column 49W, on departmental internet, what the (a) names and (b) versions are of the web browsers used on the (i) desktop machines and (ii) laptop computers used by his Department's (A) permanent secretary, (B) chief information officer, (C) head of communications and (D) head of finance. [288996]
Mr. Sutcliffe: My Department's (A) Permanent Secretary runs Internet Explorer 6 on their desktop machine, the (B) chief information officer runs Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3.51 and Chrome 2 on their desktop and laptop machines, the (C) head of communications runs Internet Explorer 6 on their desktop machine and their laptop machine and the (D) head of finance runs Internet Explorer 7 on their laptop machine.
Departmental Work Experience
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many interns work in his Department; what terms of reference apply to their appointment; what remuneration they receive; and how long on average an intern appointment lasts. [286825]
Mr. Sutcliffe: DCMS does not currently have any interns working in the Department.
Digital Broadcasting
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent progress has been made in modifying television transmitters in (a) Wales and (b) the rest of the UK for the digital switchover; and if he will make a statement. [286950]
Mr. McFadden: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is as follows:
(a) Switchover in Wales starts at the Kilvey Hill transmitter on 12 August 2009 and finishes at Wenvoe on 31 March 2010. Mast and antenna work has been completed at Wenvoe, Kilvey Hill, Preseli, Carmel, Llanddona, Moel y Pare and Long Mountain and is scheduled for completion at Blaenplwyf next month. Transmitter installations, relay upgrades, other works and testing will continue until around one month before the switchover dates for each transmitter group.
(b) For the rest of the UK, the transmitters at Selkirk, Beacon Hill and Stockland Hill and their dependent relays have completed switchover. Modification of the transmitters at Douglas, Huntshaw Cross, Caldbeck, Redruth and their dependent relays has been completed and the first stage of switchover has been completed at each. Various stages of mast, antenna and transmitter works are under way in all other UK regions.
EC Law
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the proportion of statutory obligations provided for by legislation on matters for which his Department is responsible, which were introduced as a consequence of obligations arising from EU legislation in the latest period for which figures are available. [281868]
Barbara Follett: It is very difficult to provide precise figures for the proportion of legislation that stems from the European Union.
The Secretary of State estimates that between 5 and 10 per cent. of legislation for which DCMS is responsible derives from or implements European Community obligations.
This estimate is based on approximate page counts of the relevant statutes and secondary legislation. It includes: (a) provisions that implement Community obligations even where these have super equivalent effect; (b) provisions that are now relied upon as implementing Community obligations even where the UK had adopted the same or similar provisions before those obligations took effect.
The administrative burdens measurement exercise carried out by the Government in 2006 put the proportion of administrative burdens stemming from the EU at approximately 1/3 of the total administrative burden.
In the Government's view the quality, rather than the source of regulations is the most important issue. All regulations, irrespective of their origins, should comply with the principles of better regulation. Regulations should be risk-based, proportionate and well designed, so as to achieve their objectives while also keeping costs to a minimum. The Government continue to work with European partners to ensure that EU regulations meet these standards.
English Folk Dance and Song Society
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will have discussions with the English Folk Dance and Song Society on promoting England's traditional folk culture; and if he will make a statement. [288748]
Barbara Follett: The Secretary of State has no plans at present to meet the English Folk Dance and Song Society. Arts Council England is the national development agency for the arts in England, distributing public money from Government and the National Lottery. The Council's remit includes both dance and music, and its portfolio of Regularly Funded Organisations includes Folk Arts England, the national development agency for folk, roots and traditional music and Folk South West, the folk arts development organisation for the South West of England.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |