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16 Dec 2009 : Column 1171W—continued
Gambling Commission: Standards
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions he has had with the Gambling Commission on increases to its efficiency. [305120]
Mr. Sutcliffe: My most recent meeting with the chair and chief executive of the Gambling Commission was held on 18 November where we discussed a range of issues relating to gambling regulation, including the Gambling Commission's costs and priorities.
Horserace Totalisator Board
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the monetary value was of funds held by the Tote in unpaid winnings in each of the last 10 years. [307407]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Tote has advised that gross figures for uncollected winnings recorded at the relevant financial year ends are:
| Financial year | Total dividends unclaimed (£) |
For winning Tote pool bets that are uncollected, the liability to pay the winning ticket holder remains with the Tote as a contractual debt for six years (until a claim is time barred under the statute of limitations).
Accounting policies allow these unpaid dividends, less a provision based on the Tote's experience of likely volumes of late claims, to be counted into the Tote pool's yearly profit. This is, in turn, entirely paid through to Racing within the Tote's "Contribution to Racing" that is described in the Tote's annual report and accounts.
Public Expenditure
Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding for (a) the arts, (b) heritage, (c) active leisure and (d) museums (i) his Department and (ii) each publicly-funded body within his Department's responsibility has provided for (A) England, (B) the South West Region and (C) each local authority area within the South West Region from 1997 to 2009. [307366]
Mr. Bradshaw: My Department does not hold the information in the format requested, however, it holds information on cultural recreational and sporting services by region as shown in the following table. These figures were published by HM Treasury in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis (PESA).
| £ million | ||||
| Cultural services | Recreational and sporting services | |||
| England | South West | England | South West | |
| (1) In 2006-07 HM Treasury adopted a functional analysis based on the United Nations Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG). This means that lottery spending is allocated to specific areas of spend when it was previously recorded as a separate line. | ||||
Information for previous years is not available on a consistent basis.
Sports: Leeds
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department has taken to encourage the development of sports centres in Leeds city area. [306978]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Through Sport England, our non-departmental public body with responsibility for community sport, we provide a range of facilities and planning services that are designed to develop strategic planning for sports facilities across England. Sport England ensures that the development of new sports facilities is underpinned by a robust needs and evidence base.
Sport England also aim to improve facility design and modernisation to raise standards across the sector, with a series of detailed design guidance notes.
From 2002-03 to the first six months of 2009-10 the total value of capital awards to Leeds was £731,464. This includes two awards to modernise swimming facilities within Leeds through the Free Swimming programme, and awards made to six projects to develop community clubs.
From 1994-95 to the first six months of 2009/20-10 the total value of capital awards to Leeds was £13,611,140.
Sports: Obesity
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department is taking to encourage participation in sport in order to reduce levels of obesity. [306980]
Mr. Sutcliffe: My Department is promoting sport for people of all ages and backgrounds, both as something enjoyable and worthwhile in itself and as something that has a vital role to play in tackling obesity. This is why we are working to get one million more people doing more sport, as part of a wider joint target with the Department of Health to get two million more people more physically active.
In addition, through the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People as part of Olympic PSA 22, we are creating a world-class system of PE and sport aiming to offer all young people five hours per week of PE and sport.
The strategy is jointly owned by DCMS and DCSF, and delivered by Sport England (community sport), and the Youth Sport Trust (school sport) through the network of 450 School Sport Partnerships.
In 2002 an estimated one in four children aged five to 16 were doing two hours of high quality PE and school sport each week; following £1.5 billion investment in 2003-08, 90 per cent. of pupils now do at least two hours in a typical week.
The strategy links closely with other cross-Government policies and investment, notably Change4Life, active play, combating childhood obesity, and Positive Activities for Young People.
Another example of our drive to reduce levels of obesity is the free swimming initiative whereby Departments across Government-DCMS, and the DH; Work and Pensions; Children, Schools and Families; and Communities and Local Government-joined together to provide a £140 million funding pot.
Our aim is that this provision, for over 60s and under 16s, should contribute to reducing levels of obesity and bring long-term benefits to health and well-being.
Television: Licensing
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans he has to enable British troops serving in Afghanistan to claim a rebate on their television licence fee for the time they are serving away from home. [307740]
Mr. Simon: Provision exists in the current legislation for refunds in certain circumstances. The interpretation and enforcement of the legislation on television licensing is a matter for the BBC.
Children, Schools and Families
Children: Day Care
Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children aged (a) three and (b) four years old are receiving 15 hours a week of free nursery education in Hampstead and Highgate constituency. [304127]
Dawn Primarolo: Latest available data as at January 2009 show there are no three and four year old children receiving 15 hours a week of free nursery education in Hampstead and Highgate constituency.
Currently, all three and four year old children are entitled to 12.5 hours of free early education a week for 38 weeks per year. Since September 2009, all local authorities have been delivering an extended offer of 15 funded hours a week to their 25 per cent. most disadvantaged three and four year olds. This is in addition to 34 pathfinder local authorities already delivering an extended offer of 15 hours a week to all children in their area. Camden local authority, in which the Hampstead and Highgate constituency falls, is not one of the pathfinders.
From September 2010 all eligible three and four year old children will be entitled to 15 hours a week free provision over no fewer than 38 weeks of the year offered on a more flexible basis to better meet families' needs.
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many childcare places were provided in Leeds West constituency since 1997. [306939]
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many childcare providers are based in Barnsley East and Mexborough constituency. [307162]
Dawn Primarolo: Information on the number of registered childcare providers and places is not available below local authority level.
Co-operative Schools
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assistance his Department is providing for the expansion of the co-operative schools network; by what mechanism schools become co-operative schools; and what target he has set for the number of co-operative schools. [307656]
Mr. Coaker: A pilot of co-operative trust schools involving up to 100 schools was announced on 11 September 2008. The pilot provides up to an additional £5,000 for each school seeking to become a co-operative trust school (above and beyond the usual £10,000 support funding currently available for schools seeking trust status) to fund consultancy services, training and support to develop the membership model. The pilot will run for two years. The Secretary of State announced an aspiration of up to 200 co-operative schools at the co-operative conference on 11 September 2009.
The pilot is testing a particular model of trust school and any individual or organisation seeking to develop a co-operative membership trust is welcome to participate once we are satisfied of their ability of running a membership model. It is for the Governing Body of a school to decide whether or not trust status is right for the school, however, to access the support funding and advice and guidance on the technical processes around acquiring a trust, schools can submit an expression of interest to the Trust Schools programme. It is also possible for an academy to be established using the co-operative model.
Earlier this year, the Department published "Co-Operative Schools-Making a Difference", which marks the first time we have produced a guide on co-operative
schools. It shows the wide range of ways that schools can embed co-operative values into the ethos through a range of schools models and offers practical advice on how schools can do this, and the support available.
The Department is working with the Co-operative Group and college to set up a network to support and develop co-operative trust schools, academies and other educational institutions and is providing £25,000 of funding to help establish the new network.
Departmental Correspondence
Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when the Minister of State for Further Education plans to reply to the letters of 7 August 2009 from the Director General of the Alliance against intellectual property theft and the Chief Executive of the Trading Standards Institute on intellectual property. [302092]
Kevin Brennan: I responded on 8 December. I apologise for the delay.
Departmental Travel
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on what date he last travelled by (a) bus and (b) taxi in the course of his official duties. [302729]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Secretary of State last travelled by taxi in the course of his official duties on 8 December. We do not have any records of travel by bus in the course of official duties, but his last journey by London underground in the course of official duties was on 26 November.
Scotland
Departmental Internet
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) page hits and (b) visitors his Department's website received in 2008-09. [301843]
Ann McKechin: We do not hold the information requested.
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what redesigns of websites held by his Department have taken place since 27 June 2007; what the cost to the public purse was of each redesign; and when each redesign was conducted. [305953]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office and the Office of the Advocate-General jointly tendered for the redevelopment of both their websites in 2008. We went through a competitive tendering process following the principles of Government procurement. The cost for both websites was £12,880 plus VAT.
The redevelopment of the sites includes a comprehensive in-house content management system which represents considerable value for money and costs savings for both offices, both now and in the future.
Solicitor-General
Crown Prosecution Service
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Solicitor-General how much the Crown Prosecution Service in (a) London and (b) each of its 42 regional offices spent on expenses for witnesses in cases that were adjourned or abandoned in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [305415]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service does not maintain records of the value of witness expense payments by reference to case outcomes. It is unable to say, therefore, how much it spent on witness expenses in relation to cases which were subsequently adjourned or abandoned.
The CPS can report on total expenditure on ordinary professional and foreign witness expenses by CPS area for each of the last five financial years, and separately on the proportion of cracked and ineffective trials by CPS Area for each of the last five years.
Cracked and ineffective trials are cases listed by the court for trial in which witnesses are warned to attend court, but are not required to give evidence because the defendant pleaded guilty, or the prosecution offered no evidence, (cracked trial); or the trial had to be adjourned to another day, (ineffective trial).
Comparative 42 area and national CPS data showing witness expenses payments and cracked and ineffective trials can be found at tables A, B and C:
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