Written Answers to Questions
Monday 23 November 2009
Culture, Media and Sport
Christmas
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has budgeted for Christmas decorations in 2009. [300401]
Mr. Simon: The Department has budgeted £560 for three Christmas trees.
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many Christmas parties his Department plans to host in 2009; what has been budgeted for each such reception; what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) lamb, (b) beef, (c) chicken, (d) pork, (e) turkey, (f) other meats, (g) vegetables, (h) fruit and (i) alcohol to be served at each such function which is produced in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [300878]
Mr. Simon: No plans have yet been made for Christmas parties in 2009.
Climate Change
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants from his Department will be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in an official capacity. [300886]
Mr. Simon: No Ministers or civil servants from this Department are attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has spent on interior decoration in each of the last three years. [300590]
Mr. Simon: The Department spent the following amounts on internal decoration in each of the last three years.
| £ | |
| (1) During this financial year the Department completed a full building refurbishment. It is not possible to separate the cost of internal decoration. | |
Departmental Lost Property
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) laptop computers, (b) mobile telephones, (c) items of office furniture and (d) works of art have been (i) lost by and (ii) stolen from his Department in each of the last three years; whether his Department made an insurance claim in respect of each such item; and what the estimated value of each item was. [300992]
Mr. Simon: The information is as follows:
(a) My Department has not had any laptops lost or stolen in the last three financial years.
(b) The numbers of lost or stolen mobile phones for each of the last three financial years are:
2006-07: One lost.
2007-08: Four lost. Two stolen.
2008-09: Two lost.
Equipment is not insured. My Department does not record the value of lost mobile phones but as an indication the current replacement cost of a mobile phone is £195.
(c) My Department has not lost any items of office furniture lost or stolen in the last three financial years.
(d ) The numbers of lost or stolen works of art for each of the last three financial years are:
2006-07: None.
2007-08: Four lost. Two stolen, but since recovered.
2008-09: Four lost.
None of these items have been lost by the DCMS itself or stolen from DCMS buildings. At any one time approximately 70 per cent. of the Government art collection's holding of over 13,500 works of art is on display in over 400 buildings operated by different Government Departments in the UK and around the world.
No insurance claim has been made for any of the lost items as none of them were commercially insured (HMG carries its own risk). The borrower's commercial insurance was in place for the two items stolen from Somerset House whilst on loan, in February 2008. DCMS did not take the payout because the two items were recovered by the police (in September 2008).
Estimated valuations have not been provided in this answer. In common with other national collections, the Government art collection is normally not commercially insured nor treated as a financial asset. Against a background of constant and volatile fluctuations in the art market, current valuations of every work of art in the collection are not maintained.
Departmental Pay
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) bonuses and (b) incentives have been paid to (i) consultants and (ii) contractors engaged by his Department in each of the last three years. [300647]
Mr. Simon: In the past three years the Department has paid £5,210.00 to a contractor who exceeded his service level and qualified for an incentive. No bonuses have been paid to either consultants or contractors engaged by the Department in the last three years.
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) bonuses and (b) incentives have been paid to (i) consultants and (ii) contractors engaged by executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible in each of the last three years. [300648]
Mr. Simon: The Department does not hold any central records. To answer this question would incur disproportionate costs. Individual non-departmental public bodies and Executive agencies should be contacted directly as they are responsible for their own contractors.
Departmental Recycling
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what weight of paper his Department recycled in each of the last five years. [300776]
Mr. Simon: The Department recycled 47.29 tonnes of paper in 2008-09. In previous years the Department recorded only the total weight of recycled waste: the weight of recycled paper was not separately recorded.
Departmental Taxis
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has spent on taxis in 2008-09. [300721]
Mr. Simon: All official travel is undertaken in accordance with rules set out in the Department's Travel and Subsistence guidance and is consistent with the Civil Service Management Code.
The Department's expenditure on taxis in 2008-09 was £32,179.
This figure represents expenditure on taxis and black cabs which is separately identified in the Department's accounting system. In addition there is an element of this expenditure included in the general travel and subsistence account which can be identified only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Visits Abroad
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what expenditure his Department has incurred on (a) international travel and (b) overseas accommodation in respect of staff in each of the last three years. [300591]
Mr. Simon: All official travel is undertaken in accordance with rules set out in the Department's Travel and Subsistence guidance and is consistent with the Civil Service Management Code.
Overall departmental expenditure for international travel and subsistence by officials from 2006-07 to 2008-09 is set out in the following table. To disaggregate travel and accommodation costs would incur disproportionate cost as these are not separately recorded on the Department's accounting system.
| International travel and subsistence expenditure by officials | |
| Financial year | £ |
Football
Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many Premier League 4 Sport partnerships have so far been set up; and what assessment he has made of their impact. [300366]
Mr. Sutcliffe: To date, 20 Premier League 4 Sport partnerships have been set up comprising all of the football clubs competing in the 2008-09 Premier League season.
Premier League 4 Sport activities began in September 2009. The scheme is a good example of partnership working which will contribute to our ambition of offering every young person five hours of high quality PE and sport per week. In particular, the scheme aims to help young people make the step from school sport into community clubs.
Hall Aitken has been commissioned to evaluate this initiative. We expect to receive details about the numbers of young people who have been engaged in the first term of the scheme in January.
Sports: Television
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will publish the timetable for further steps to be taken in response to the David Davies Review of Listed Events. [300214]
Mr. Sutcliffe: We intend to publish shortly a formal Government consultation on the report's recommendations.
Olympics
Departmental Legal Costs
Pete Wishart: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what the (a) cost and (b) purpose was of legal (i) representation and (ii) advice sought by her Department and its agencies in each year since May 1997. [300372]
Tessa Jowell: As my officials report to me through the permanent secretary of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the information requested is incorporated within the answer provided to the hon. Member by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
Government Olympic Executive: London Development Agency
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics whether the Government Olympic Executive has held discussions with the London Development Agency on altering the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between her and the former Mayor of London; and if she will make a statement. [300216]
Tessa Jowell: The Government Olympic Executive has not held any discussions with the London Development Agency about altering the terms of the memorandum of understanding between the Government and the Mayor of London on Olympic funding.
National Lottery: Grants
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics which community projects have received direct funding from the Olympic Lottery Distribution since its inception. [300215]
Tessa Jowell: The Olympic Lottery Distributor (OLD), which is an independent public body, publishes details of its grants in its annual report and on its website at www.olympiclotterydistributor.org.uk:
The OLD has to date not made any grants to community projects but it has plans to support community projects in the five Olympic boroughs. The OLD is in the process of developing a £4 million funding round for these purposes, with a view to inviting formal applications for grants in 2010.
Northern Ireland
Police
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many police stations in Northern Ireland have closed permanently in the last four years; and how many police personnel posts have been freed for other duties as a result of such closures in the same period. [300458]
Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Scotland
Departmental Air Travel
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many domestic flights within Great Britain officials from his Department took in an official capacity in 2008-09; and at what cost to the public purse such flights were taken. [300420]
Ann McKechin: In 2008-09 officials in the Scotland Office took 231 domestic return flights within Great Britain at a total cost of £67,608.
Departmental Energy
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the (a) energy rating and (b) energy band of each building occupied by his Department and its agencies was in each year for which figures are available. [299696]
Ann McKechin: Dover House is required under the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 to have and display a copy of a display energy certificate. A copy of the certificate has been placed in the House Library. The regulations do not apply to our Edinburgh branch.
Unemployment
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the level of economic inactivity in Scotland. [300318]
Ann McKechin: The Secretary of State for Scotland has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, most recently on 17 November about the specific challenges of economic inactivity in Glasgow.
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