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21 July 2009 : Column 1554W—continued
English Heritage: Conditions of Employment
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate English Heritage has made of the likely effects on its level of expenditure from changes to the terms and conditions of employment for its historic sites staff, including changes to pay, allowances and future pension entitlement. [288408]
Barbara Follett: This is primarily a matter for English Heritage, which has advised that any possible changes to the terms and conditions of employment for its staff at historic sites, including changes to pay, allowances and future pension entitlement, are currently the subject of discussions with trade unions. I have made no assessment of the likely effect of any potential changes.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans he has to reallocate savings arising from changes in the terms and conditions of English Heritage staff working at its historic sites; and what assessment he has made of the likely effects of such changes on (a) staffing levels at historical sites in deprived areas and (b) on regeneration in those areas. [288693]
Barbara Follett: This is primarily a matter for English Heritage, which has advised that any possible changes to the terms and conditions of employment for its staff at historic sites, including changes to how their pay is structured, are currently the subject of discussions with trade unions. I have made no assessment of the likely effect of any potential changes.
Gambling
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects his Department to finalise its conclusions on the measures required to ensure a level playing field for British gambling operators. [288457]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I will report to Parliament with findings on this work by the end of December 2009, as stated in my announcement on 30 April 2009.
Gaming Machines: Taxation
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he had with HM Treasury on the regulation of the use of Category C amusement machines between his Department's announcement of new stake prize limits on Category C amusement machines in January 2009 and the announcement in Budget 2009 of a consultation on the tax treatment of amusement machines. [288383]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department has regular discussions with HM Treasury about a range of gambling issues, including on the regulation of the use of Category C gaming machines prior to the announcement in Budget 2009 of a consultation on the tax treatment of amusement machines.
Heritage and Culture Sector Club
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 12 May 2009, Official Report, columns 637-8W, on Heritage and Culture Sector Club: Visit Britain, how many officials of his Department provide support for the Heritage and Culture Sector Club; and on what date the club last met. [287554]
Barbara Follett [holding answer 20 July 2009]: The Heritage and Culture Sector Club was one of a number of clubs set up by VisitBritain to engage with different sectors of the tourism industry. The club no longer exists and last met on 20 November 2007, this was a VisitBritain-led initiative and DCMS officials were not involved.
Hotels: Licensing
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the likely effect on bed and breakfast proprietors of the implementation of VisitBritain's concierge licence scheme. [286916]
Barbara Follett: The "concierge licence scheme" or "DVD Concierge Licence", is not a VisitBritain scheme. It is run by an independent business called Filmbank, which collects licence fees, under existing copyright legislation on behalf of a number of the major film studios. Other such schemes exist to help bed-and-breakfast owners comply with copyright law. Neither VisitBritain nor VisitEngland endorse this or any other particular licence services.
Under copyright law, businesses such as bed-and-breakfast accommodation should purchase a licence if DVDs are made available to guests. A licence is not required if DVDs are not provided by the establishment, or if guests bring their own.
ITV
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the residual value of the ITV licence after digital switchover. [288614]
Mr. Simon: It is the Government's view, supported by Ofcom, that the residual value of the existing Channel 3 licences will decline further between now and the completion of digital switchover, meaning the benefits for ITV of remaining a PSB-public service broadcaster-will be outweighed by the obligations imposed on it.
That is why, in the Digital Britain White Paper, we set out a clear direction of travel for the liberalisation of the Channel 3 licences.
ITV: Public Service Broadcasting
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his most recent estimate is of the cost to ITV of its (a) public service obligation and (b) public service obligation in respect of regional news provision. [288653]
Mr. Simon: The analysis contained in Ofcom's second public service broadcasting review shows the 2009 pattern for regional news services in England and Wales costs over £50 million. The cost of ITV's other public service obligations are commercially sensitive.
Licensed Premises
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many premises in Greater London have had a licence to sell alcohol withdrawn since the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003. [288123]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Since the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003, DCMS has been collecting Alcohol, entertainment and late night refreshment statistics on an annual basis by financial year from licensing authorities. During the period April 2006 to March 2007 for licensing authorities in Greater London, 225 premises licences were surrendered, 21 lapsed, and six were suspended, (based on between 29 to 26 returns, out of 35, from licensing authorities in the Greater London Area). For the same period, eight club premises certificates were surrendered, none lapsed and none were withdrawn. There were also an additional 31 premises licences revoked or club premises certificates withdrawn following a completed review. Under the Licensing Act 2003, premises licences and club premises certificates are not confined to just authorise the sale or supply of alcohol; they also can provide regulated entertainment and/or late night refreshment. Therefore some of these closures may be for premises that are not authorised to sell or supply alcohol.
The April 2007 to March 2008 bulletin reported for licensing authorities in Greater London that, 463 premises licences were surrendered, 39 lapsed, three were suspended by a court, and 17 were subject to a closure notice (based on returns from 33 or 32 of the 35 licensing authorities in the Greater London Area). For the same period, 15 club premises licences were surrendered, none lapsed and 1 was withdrawn. There were also an additional 41 premises licences revoked or club premises certificates withdrawn following a completed review.
Music: Finance
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much of the £500,000 funding announced in December 2007 to set up music rehearsal spaces has been (a) allocated and (b) spent in each region. [288459]
Mr. Simon: So far, £72,434 of the £500,000 pledged to set up music rehearsal spaces has been spent. In the North West (Liverpool) expenditure has been £39,074, and in the South West (Bristol) expenditure has been £30,376. The total expenditure includes £2,984 paid to Sound Connections for the administration of the scheme.
In total, we are seeking to establish 10 pilot music rehearsal spaces in England. Although their grant allocations have yet to be finalised, those we plan to open over the next few months will be in Hastings, Washington, St. Austell, rural Norfolk, and Nottingham.
National Lottery: Grants
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of Lottery funding for good causes has been awarded to organisations operating in (a) Sunderland and (b) England in the last 12 months. [289159]
Mr. Simon: The total value of Lottery grants awarded across the UK in the last 12 months to 30 June 2009 was £854.74 million. The amount awarded in that period in (a) the Sunderland local authority area was £2.08 million and in (b) England was £596.64 million.
This information is drawn from DCMS's Lottery Grants database. The database is searchable at:
and uses information supplied by the Lottery distributors.
Olympic Games 2012: Football
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations he has received on the eligibility of players from the four home nations for selection for a Great Britain football team at the London 2012 Olympics. [287700]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 20 July 2009]: I have not received any recent representations about eligibility of players from the four home nations for selection for a Great Britain football team at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
This is a matter for the home nation Football Associations and the British Olympic Association.
Pay Television
Mr. Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects Ofcom (a) to conclude its pay TV market investigation and (b) to publish its final remedies regarding the pay TV market. [279627]
Mr. McFadden: I have been asked to reply.
Ofcom's investigation into the pay TV market is a matter for Ofcom. My officials have discussed this investigation with Ofcom. Ofcom published its third consultation document on their website on 26 June which calls for views on proposed remedies for the pay TV market. Ofcom's document can be viewed at the following link:
Renaissance Programme for Museums: Finance
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he plans to publish the income and expenditure accounts of the Renaissance programme for museums for each year since 2002. [288372]
Barbara Follett: The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council has advised that it has only ever published Renaissance income and expenditure as part of its overall accounts, and that to provide the information in the format requested could be done only at disproportionate cost. The Renaissance review, to be published in July 2009, will contain detailed financial information about the Programme's past finances. The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council is committed to publishing an annual report for Renaissance from 2010 onwards which will include detailed accounts for the Programme.
Ryder Cup: Wales
Mr. Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans he has to meet the Welsh Assembly Government to discuss the hosting of the Ryder Cup tournament in 2010. [288801]
Mr. Sutcliffe: While I wish The Ryder Cup 2010 all the success possible, The Ryder Cup 2010 is a matter for the Welsh Assembly and Ryder Cup Wales. However, the Secretary of State is due to visit The Celtic Manor Resort shortly, and meet with the Welsh Heritage Minister.
Sports: Finance
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what provisions in (a) his Department's funding agreement with Sport England and (b) Sport England's guidance to national governing bodies concern management of capital funding; and if he will place in the Library a copy of Sport England's guidance. [287415]
Mr. Sutcliffe: All national governing bodies are required to govern their affairs properly as a condition of Sport England funding.
Earlier this year, Sport England provided guidance to national governing bodies on managing their capital funding, based on best practice developed over five years delivering the Community Club Development Programme. This guidance-the 2009-13 National Governing Body Funding Memorandum of Agreement for Capital Build-has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Sports: Young People
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department has taken to encourage young people to participate in sport in the last 12 months. [288448]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Through the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People (PESSYP) and as part of our London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic promises, we have extended our ambition for PE and sport and are creating a world-class system that will offer five hours of PE and Sport a week for 5-16 year olds and three hours a week for 16 to 19 year-olds.
In total, we are investing over £2.4 billion in the eight years to 2011, including £783 million from 2008-11. This will help to develop and sustain the nationwide infrastructure for sport in schools, which covers every maintained school in England, and from 2008 we began creating and sustaining a new network of Further Education Sports Co-ordinators (FESCOs) to realise our ambitions for 16 to 19 year-olds.
We are also building capacity of the system by training PE teachers, recruiting and deploying more coaches and reinvigorating inter-school competition through our new network of Competition Managers.
As well as revitalising PE and school sport, we are delivering more opportunities in community settings by working with 34 national governing bodies of sport to strengthen links between schools and community clubs and by focusing investment through our new exciting 'Sport Unlimited' programme to reach semi-sporty children and young people, attracting them into a greater range of sustainable sporting activities.
Swimming
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which local authorities have applied for funding under the Government's free swimming initiative. [288280]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 20 July 2009]: I have arranged for a list to be placed in the House Libraries of those local authorities who have received funding under the Government's free swimming initiative.
Full information about which local authorities are offering free swimming and the grants awarded is available at the DCMS website:
Telecommunications: Disclosure of Information
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many requests for communications data were made by Ofcom to communication service providers (CSPs) under the (a) Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949, (b) Telecommunications Act 1984 and (c) Communications Act 2003 in (i) 2000, (ii) 2001, (iii) 2002, (iv) 2003, (v) 2004, (vi) 2005, (vii) 2006, (viii) 2007 and (ix) 2008; and how many of these requests resulted in the requested communications data being disclosed by the relevant CSP. [284867]
Mr. McFadden: I have been asked to reply.
The matters raised are 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.
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