| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
3 Nov 2009 : Column 809W—continued
Waterloo International
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport on what date ownership of Waterloo International passed from (a) the British Rail (Residuary) body to his Department; and (b) his Department to Network Rail. [295900]
Chris Mole: The Waterloo International Terminal was transferred directly from Eurostar (UK) Ltd. to BRB (Residuary) Ltd. (BRBR) on 27 March 2008. The facility remains in BRBR's ownership.
Culture, Media and Sport
Cultural Heritage
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money his Department has spent on salaries for staff working on heritage (a) in actual prices, (b) in real prices and (c) as a percentage of total expenditure on staff salaries by his Department in each year since 1997. [292305]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 12 October 2009]: Salaries for employees working on heritage in (a) actual prices and (b) in real prices and (c) as a percentage of total expenditure on employee salaries is set out in the table. Variations in the figures are explained by restructuring and efficiency savings undertaken within the division, and the transfer of areas of responsibility to other divisions within the Department.
| Heritage staff salaries in actual prices (£) | Heritage staffs salaries in real prices (£) | Salaries in actual prices as a percentage of total salaries | |
Departmental Home Working
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff of his Department have been authorised to work from home in the last 12 months. [297741]
Mr. Simon: DCMS staff are actively encouraged to work alternative working patterns, including working from home. These are mainly arranged at local line management level and the Department does not hold comprehensive data centrally about the number of staff involved. DCMS has a new human resources information system in place, and when this is fully operational, will record this information for us.
Departmental Manpower
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) full and (b) part-time employees his Department had in each year since 1997. [297395]
Mr. Simon: The number of full and part time employees for each year since 1997 is set out in the following table. Head count is taken as at 1 April each year.
| Full time employees | Part-time employees | Total | |
Film
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent steps his Department has taken to support the UK film industry. [297258]
Mr. Simon: The Government have recently announced that they will commit £45 million to establish a new state-of-the-art national film centre on London's South Bank, on top of the £25 million investment in the UK's screen heritage previously announced. The new BFI National Film Centre will showcase the best of British and world cinema across five screens, as well as creating an innovative new space for exhibitions, cultural events, research and study.
The Government provided £34.834 million of grant funding to the UK Film Council for 2009-10. The UK Film Council invests grant in aid and lottery money in developing new filmmakers, in funding exciting new British films, in getting a wider choice of films to audiences throughout the UK, and in awarding £16 million annually to the BFI to fund activities which include the preservation of the film archives. The UK Film Council also invests in training, promoting Britain as an international filmmaking location and in raising the profile of British films abroad.
The Government provide tax relief to support filmmakers; in 2008-09 film production companies benefited from £100 million worth of tax credit.
Horse Racing: Bookmakers
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2009, Official Report, column 2039W, on horse racing: bookmakers, whether the letter sent by the Minister of Sport referred to a dispute resolution mechanism; and if he will make a statement. [297105]
Mr. Sutcliffe: My letter of 28 July to the Federation of Racecourse Bookmakers and the Race Course Association included my view that a dispute resolution mechanism should be allowed, as long as it is simple, quick and cost effective, and does not become a reason to avoid legitimate negotiation.
Horse Racing: Towcester
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the regulatory regime on the future of Towcester racecourse in light of the agreement between the racecourse and its bookmakers for the tenure of on-course bookmakers' listing positions. [297622]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have not made a recent detailed assessment of the regulatory regime on the future of Towcester Racecourse but I did meet their representatives at the outset of the on-course discussions and have taken a close interest in the developments. I was delighted to attend a reception hosted by Towcester Racecourse on 27 October to announce the agreement they have reached with their on-course bookmakers and I encourage other race courses to consider similar agreements.
Island Games
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether he plans to promote the Island Games in the Isle of Wight. [297662]
Mr. Sutcliffe: We are delighted that the Isle of Wight has won the right to host the 2011 Island Games. While the primary responsibility for promoting the games lies with the organising committee that has been established, the Department would be happy to meet with them to discuss what assistance it might be able to provide.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he plans to reply to the letter of 1 September 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Tim Bannister. [296119]
Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.
I responded to my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton on behalf of my noble Friend the Secretary of State and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on 26 October. The letter that was sent to the Department for Culture Media and Sport had been transferred to the Department for Business for response. I apologise to my right hon. Friend that he had not been advised of the transfer.
Swimming: Concessions
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people took part in his Department's free swimming initiative in the last 12 months. [297399]
Mr. Bradshaw: The number of unique participants in the Free Swimming Programme is not collected centrally. Local authorities are responsible for collecting data on the number of free swims that have taken place in their area each month. The latest figures, published on 27 October 2009, showed that 10,373,811 free swims have taken place in the six months since the programme's launch on 1 April 2009.
The Government have commissioned a robust independent evaluation of the Free Swimming Programme which is led by PricewaterhouseCoopers. PricewaterhouseCoopers will draw together a range of data over the coming months to provide an estimate of the number of people that have taken part in free swimming. We expect an evaluation report to be published in early summer 2010.
VisitBritain: Finance
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the move of VisitBritain and VisitEngland to new headquarters cost; what the estimated operating cost is for the new headquarters in each of the next three years; and what the operating costs were for (a) VisitBritain's and (b) VisitEngland's former headquarters in each of the last five years. [296453]
Margaret Hodge: The information regarding the move of VisitBritain and VisitEngland to new headquarters is held by VisitBritain.
I have therefore asked VisitBritain's chief executive to answer the question raised by the hon. Member for Bath and to write to him direct.
Copies of the letter will be placed in the Library of both Houses.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent on the VisitBritain website in each of the last five years; how many visitors the website received in each of those years; and what the average hit rate was for individual accommodation business web pages in each of those years. [296454]
Margaret Hodge: The VisitBritain website is the responsibility of VisitBritain.
I have therefore asked VisitBritain's chief executive to answer the question raised by the hon. Member for Bath and to write to him direct.
Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent on the (a) VisitBritain and (b) Enjoy England websites in each year since their establishment. [297112]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 2 November 2009]: The running and maintenance of these website are the responsibility of VisitBritain and VisitEngland respectively, who operate independently of Government.
I have therefore asked the chief executives of the organisations concerned to consider the questions raised by the hon. Member for South-West Surrey (Mr. Hunt) and to write to him direct.
Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |