| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
9 Nov 2009 : Column 18W—continued
Olympic Games 2012: Countries
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what her most recent estimate is of the number of nations that will compete in the London 2012 (a) Olympic and (b) Paralympic Games. [296820]
Tessa Jowell: Today there are 205 National Olympic Committees (NOC). 204 NOCs were represented at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which is the highest number of NOCs ever to take part in an Olympic Games.
There are currently 162 National Paralympic Committees (NPC). 146 nations took part in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.
Olympic Games 2012: Finance
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what her most recent estimate is of the contribution from the Exchequer to the costs of the London 2012 Olympics. [297883]
Tessa Jowell:
Chapter 20 of the comprehensive spending review (CSR) White Paper, published on 9 October 2007, announced total grant in aid (within the £9.325 billion) from Government of £1,559/£1,104/£1,050 million in 2008-09 to 2010-11. The distribution of the remaining Government contribution (within the £9.325 billion) for 2011-12 to 2013-14 will be confirmed in subsequent spending reviews. The balance of the funding requirement
will be met, as announced in March 2007, by contributions from the Mayor of London (GLA and LDA); and from the Lottery.
Details of progress across the Olympic programme, and sources of funding, can be found in the July 2009 Quarterly Economic Report on the games. The next Quarterly Economic Report on the games will be published later this month.
Olympic Games 2012: Land
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what her most recent estimate is of the land acquisition and disturbance compensation costs incurred by the London Development Agency on the Olympic Park. [296543]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 29 October 2009]: The latest London Development Agency (LDA) land commitments budget was discussed by the LDA Board on 16 September 2009. I am arranging for copies of the minutes of that meeting to be deposited in the House Libraries. The minutes can also be found on the LDA website:
http://www.lda.gov.uk/upload/pdf/Public_Item_02_1_ Olympic_Land_commitments_ and_revised_budget_2009_10.pdf
The funding for LDA Olympic land commitments is not part of the £9.325 billion public sector funding package for the games but has always been self-funded expenditure.
Culture, Media and Sport
Inbound Tourists
16. Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the number of inbound tourists in the latest period for which figures are available. [298026]
Margaret Hodge: In the three months to August 2009 (the latest period for which figures are available), there were 7.7 million visits to the UK, an increase of 3 per cent. when compared with the previous three months, and a decrease of 5 per cent. when compared with the three months to August 2008.
Expenditure by overseas visitors in the three months to August 2009 was £4.1 billion which increased by 1 per cent. when compared with the previous three months and increased by 2 per cent. when compared with the three months to August 2008.
Regional Television News
17. Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of the level of provision of regional television news programmes. [298027]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The Government assessed the level and importance of regional news on television during the development of the Digital Britain White Paper published in June 2009, which was informed by Ofcom's second public broadcasting review and statement on short term regulatory decisions. The Government propose
to deliver independently funded news consortia on a pilot basis to start with to help secure the plurality of nations, local and regional news.
Library Services
18. Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he plans to publish his Department's report on the modernisation of library services. [298028]
Margaret Hodge: We plan to publish the library report as a consultation document very soon. We are grateful for the work of the Library Review Project Board and the Advisory Council on Libraries, which provides a good foundation for further discussion of key issues and concerns. I now want to consult on these issues, with a view to publishing a response and proposals in the spring.
BBC Trust
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations he has received on the future of the BBC Trust; and if he will make a statement. [298022]
Mr. Bradshaw: I regularly receive representations on all aspects of the BBC, including the BBC Trust. I have already said that I have concerns about the Corporation's regulatory structure and I am clear that this must be a key issue for the next Charter review.
Arts Council of England: Internet
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many page hits have been recorded by the (a) Arts Council England and (b) British Film Council website in each year since their creation. [298847]
Margaret Hodge: The information is as follows:
(a) Arts Council England have supplied the data below. The figures from the 2009 server log are not yet available.
| Hits per year | |
(b) The UK Film Council have supplied the data below. They undertook a major re-development of their website with a new service provider which went live in January 2008. They have not kept statistics related to the former website and service provider prior to this date.
| Hits per year | |
Arts: Finance
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to maintain levels of funding for the arts during the recession. [298014]
Margaret Hodge: Government continue to provide strong financial support to the arts throughout the recession. We are investing nearly £450 million in the arts this year through Arts Council England. This represents a real-terms increase of 83 per cent. since 1997. This will rise to £463 million in 2010-11.
Arts Council England have made a swift and innovative response to the economic situation by introducing the sustain scheme. This is providing an additional £40 million to enable arts organisations to continue to provide high quality artistic programmes despite the current economic situation.
Arts: Young People
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has spent on arts bursary awards for people aged under 25 in each of the last five years. [296492]
Margaret Hodge: The Government support awards for young people through the Arts Council and their Art Award scheme. This scheme enables young people aged 11 to 25 to develop their creative skills. 22,000 young people have gained an Art Award since the qualification began in 2005. The scheme is growing quickly in popularity with almost 13,000 awards gained in this calendar year.
Since its inception in 2005, Arts Council England has spent the following on Art Awards:
| Financial year | Total (£) |
Broadband
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of households in the United Kingdom have access to high-speed broadband internet. [293417]
Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.
While there is currently no overall percentage figure on the number of households in the United Kingdom that have access to high speed broadband internet, approximately 12 million households have connection to fast broadband via Virgin Media's cable network. This covers approximately 50 per cent. of all UK households. BT announced its plans to invest £1.5 billion in a fibre-based super-fast broadband network. They plan to have the service available to one million households by March 2010 and the service should be available to around 40 per cent. of the UK's homes and businesses by 2012. They are currently rolling out super-fast
broadband to 10,000 homes in Ebbsfleet and have a 40Mbps service pilot scheme to 15,000 homes in Muswell Hill and Whitchurch.
Other high speed broadband developments include H20's Fibrecity scheme to 88,000 homes in Bournemouth and Dundee and Redstone's scheme serving 5,000 homes in Belfast.
Correspondence Management Unit
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on employing an independent consultant to review and report on the Correspondence Management Unit in his Department in September 2009. [298159]
Mr. Bradshaw: Over the summer the Department commissioned an independent consultant to look into a range of issues across the Department including the handling of correspondence.
The cost of this consultancy, at a discounted Government rate, was £9,639.60.
Culture
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has spent on the UK City of Culture programme in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [297259]
Margaret Hodge: In the last 12 months, my Department has spent £55,690 on the UK City of Culture programme. The programme is intended to encourage bidding cities to work within existing resources and budgets. DCMS funding has therefore been used to support bidding cities so to minimise their local expenditure. This money has been spent on paying expert assessors who work with bidding cities and on hosting events where cities can learn from the success of Liverpool as the European Capital of Culture.
Licensing Act 2003
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what timetable he has set for a public consultation on exemptions from the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003 for low risk live entertainment. [298884]
Mr. Sutcliffe: We hope to publish the consultation this year and will consult for the usual 12-week period.
Lithuania
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what official visits he has made to the European Capital of Culture in 2009; and at what cost to the public purse. [298239]
National Heritage: Expenditure
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has spent on its aims related to heritage (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms and (c) as a percentage of its annual expenditure in each year since 1997. [295337]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 26 October 2009]: The table was calculated from published outturn figures:
| FY ending 31 March | Actual cost (£ million) | Cost in real terms( 1) (£ million) | Percentage of annual DCMS voted spend excluding BBC |
| (1) Costs in 2008-09 prices. Calculated using GDP deflators | |||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |