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5 Jan 2010 : Column 42W—continued
(b) The Royal Parks Agency paid Bellenden Public Affairs £4,600 (including VAT) in 2009, for annual subscription to the publications and activities of the All Party Parliamentary Gardening and Horticulture Group.
Departmental Training
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much (a) his Department and (b) its agency spent on away days in the last 12 months; and what the (i) subject and (ii) location of each away day was. [308671]
Mr. Simon: The Department and its agency, the Royal Parks, are strongly committed to developing their staff and equipping them with the skills, knowledge and expertise they need to carry out their work. Away days contribute to these objectives.
Within the Department, away days are arranged by individual teams and details of away days are not centrally recorded. The Department's accounting system does not record expenditure on away days separately from other staff training and developmental costs. To obtain the information requested would therefore incur disproportionate cost.
The Royal Parks has provided the information set out in the following table.
| Subject | Location | Amount (£) | |
Hotels
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many hotel room nights were booked by officials in (a) his Department and (b) its agency in each year since 2007; and how much (i) his Department and (ii) its agency spent on the fees of third party agents in booking hotel accommodation in each of those years. [309052]
Mr. Simon: All accommodation costs are incurred in accordance with rules set out in the Department's staff guide and are consistent with the Civil Service Management Code.
Information regarding the number of room nights booked via the Department's agent is listed in the table. However, hotel accommodation booked independently, through individual travel and subsistence claims, is not centrally recorded and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The Department's agency, The Royal Parks, do not record the number of hotel nights separately and it would incur disproportionate cost to obtain this information.
Neither the Department nor its agency incurred fees of third party agents.
| Number of hotel nights booked via Department's agent | |
Museums and Galleries: West Bromwich
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on how many occasions a representative of Arts Council England (a) attended and (b) sent apologies to a meeting of the board of (i) The Public Building Limited, (ii) The Public Charity and (iii) the Building Sub-Committee of The Public Building Limited between 2003 and 2006. [307894]
Margaret Hodge: The information you have requested is not held centrally by the Department and is a matter for Arts Council England.
Accordingly, I have asked the chief executive to write direct to my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich, East. Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what dates meetings were held between Arts Council England and Advantage West Midlands to discuss The Public building in West Bromwich between 2003 and 2006. [307898]
Margaret Hodge: This is a matter for Arts Council England.
Accordingly, I have asked the Chief Executive to write direct to my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich, East. Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
National Lottery: Translation Services
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding has been given by (a) Heritage Lottery Fund and (b) the Big Lottery Fund to projects to translate information into foreign languages in the last 12 months. [308224]
Mr. Simon: The information requested is not held centrally in the manner requested; to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
Funding of this nature is usually part of a larger project.
Offenders
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many employees of his Department and its agency have been convicted of a criminal offence of each type in each year since 1997. [308509]
Mr. Simon: The number of employees from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and its agency, the Royal Parks, convicted of a criminal offence since 1997 is zero.
Olympic Games 2012: Culture
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much had been spent in each region on programmes launched as part of the Cultural Olympiad on the latest date for which figures are available. [307131]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 14 December 2009]: Many of the Cultural Olympiad initiatives, such as the London 2012 Open Weekends and the projects within the Inspire Mark Programme, operating in the regions are designed, delivered and financed by local organisations rather than by central direction. Therefore, this information is not held centrally.
Three Major National Projects of the Cultural Olympiad have also been launched: Artists Taking the Lead; Stories of the World and Unlimited have been launched and all will have a strong regional presence. They are in their early stages. Therefore, expenditure figures are not yet available.
Nevertheless, The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games estimate that over £80 million of private and public money has been allocated to the Cultural Olympiad programmes overall and, of this sum, an estimated £14.49 million has been spent so far around the regions, on cultural projects awarded the Inspire Mark.
Olympic Games: British Overseas Territories
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assistance his Department has provided to Olympics-related sporting projects in (a) Bermuda, (b) the British Virgin Islands and (c) the Cayman Islands in the last five years. [309082]
Mr. Sutcliffe: My Department has given no assistance to Olympics-related sporting projects in Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands in the last five years.
Olympic Games: Canada
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department expect to attend the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver in February in the course of their official duties; for how many days each expects to attend; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse in each such case. [308978]
Mr. Simon: The Minister for Sport is expected to attend the 2010 Winter Olympic games in Vancouver for four days to represent UK interests. The annual list of all ministerial travel costing over £500, which was last published on the Cabinet Office website in July 2009, includes the cost, destination and purpose of the trip. It also provides information on the number of officials who accompany Ministers.
Party Political Broadcasts
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions his Department has had with Ofcom on its proposals for the number of party political broadcasts allocated to minority parties. [308288]
Mr. Simon: Decisions on the allocation of party political broadcasts are a matter for the relevant broadcasters, acting in accordance with the rules established by Ofcom, the BBC Trust and the Welsh Authority, having regard to any views expressed by the Electoral Commission.
Officials in my Department have had no recent discussions with Ofcom on their rules for party political and referendum broadcasts. However, I understand that Ofcom recently consulted on proposed changes to the rules in this area. Ofcom's new rules will include updated guidance on how the allocation of party election broadcasts to major parties and other registered parties should be determined. Ofcom's intention is to have the revised rules in place ahead of the next general election. However, in the event that a general election is called before new rules are finalised, the existing rules will apply.
Swimming: Nottingham
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) under 16 year olds and (b) over 60 year olds resident in Nottingham North constituency have participated in free swimming through the Swimming Challenge Fund. [309020]
Mr. Sutcliffe: 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 following table shows the total number of free swims that have taken place under the free swimming scheme by (a) people aged 16 years and under, and (b) people aged 60 and over in the east midlands region in a given time period (April to September 2009). This is not a measure of the total number of individual participants taking part in free swimming, as the Department does not hold these figures.
The Department holds figures by local authority; county and region.
Accordingly, figures for Nottingham, North are included within those for the east midlands as a whole.
| Swims, east midlands region, July to September 2009 | |
| Number | |
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 summer 2010.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he plans to answer Question 301896 on restructuring of Arts Council England, tabled on 26 November 2009. [307600]
Margaret Hodge: I will answer the question from the hon. Member for West Bromwich, East shortly.
Justice
Veteran Support
12. Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent steps his Department has taken to support veterans in custody. [308931]
Maria Eagle: We have just completed a data matching exercise jointly with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to identify the number of veterans in custody. The results show that 3 per cent. of the prison population have served in the armed forces. I am currently considering with MOD Ministers what future work needs to be done about offence types and military service to guide future research and policy development.
Clayton v. Clayton
13. John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reasons the Government plan to reverse the judgment given in Clayton v. Clayton on injunctions. [308932]
Bridget Prentice: This new legislation provides a comprehensive solution to the issue of how we increase the transparency of family courts, rather than merely addressing individual issues. Allowing the media to report the detail of family proceedings is being balanced by giving indefinite anonymity to the children and families involved. The legislation includes provisions to allow the courts to lift restrictions around the anonymity of children and families in specific circumstances, provided that it is safe to do so.
Probation Service Funding
14. Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has for the future funding of the probation service; and if he will make a statement. [308933]
Mr. Straw: The budget for 2010-11 for the Probation Service is £870 million. This equates to a reduction of 2.7 per cent. year on year, consistent with the savings expected across public services, but is £26 million more than the original indicative budget.
Probation areas expect to make the required savings through back-office and management rationalisation and efficiency improvements, protecting front-line services.
Probation funding has increased since 1997 by 70 per cent. in real terms-a faster rate than the increase in case load and almost twice the growth rate of the Prison Service.
Prisoner Rehabilitation
17. Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what programmes his Department has to rehabilitate prisoners. [308936]
Claire Ward: The National Offender Management Service in partnership with statutory, voluntary and Third Sector organisations delivers a broad range of interventions aimed at rehabilitating prisoners and preparing them to live crime free lives.
There are a number of accredited offending behaviour programmes addressing thinking skills, anger management, domestic and other types of violent crime as well as sexual offending. A range of interventions is available for offenders with an alcohol or drug problem.
Other interventions with a significant part to play include learning and skills activities and the work done with prisoners to help them get suitable accommodation and employment on release or help them manage their debt.
Prisoner Reoffending
18. Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of programmes to reduce level of prisoner reoffending. [308937]
Maria Eagle: Reducing reoffending is one of the key strategic objectives of MOJ. Statistics published in May 2009 show that there was an 11.1 per cent. reduction in the rate of reoffending for adults and 7.5 per cent. for juveniles between 2005 and 2007.
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