Mr. Hurd: To ask the hon. Member for South-West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission what payments the Electoral Commission has made to Pagoda Public Relations since 2000; for what services such payments were made; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contracts for such services. [315576]
Mr. Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it contracts Pagoda Public Relations to provide public relations services, primarily the Commission’s press office function in Scotland and activity to promote voter registration. Payments since 2000 are detailed in the following table and include figures to the end of December 2009.
| Financial year | Spend (£) |
Copies of the Commission’s contracts with Pagoda Public Relations have been placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2010, Official Report, column 392W, on museums and galleries: West Bromwich, when he expects the chief executive of Arts Council England to write to the hon. Member for West Bromwich East on the matter of PricewaterhouseCoopers; [315418]
(2) pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2010, Official Report, column 392W, on museums and galleries: West Bromwich, when he expects the chief executive of Arts Council England to write to the hon. Member for West Bromwich East on the matter of the Capital Projects Board; [315419]
(3) pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2010, Official Report, column 389W, on Arts Council England: consultants, when he expects the chief executive of Arts Council England to write to the hon. Member for West Bromwich East; [315430]
(4) pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2010, Official Report, columns 391-92W, on museums and galleries: West Bromwich, when he expects the chief executive of Arts Council England to write to the hon. Member for West Bromwich East on the matter of Moss Cooper; [315431]
(5) pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2010, Official Report, column 386W, on Arts Council England: hospitality, when he expects the chief executive of Arts Council England to write to the hon. Member for West Bromwich East; [315432]
(6) pursuant to the answer of 5 January 2010, Official Report, column 36W, on Arts Council England: advertising, when he expects the chief executive of Arts Council England to write to the hon. Member for West Bromwich East. [315442]
Margaret Hodge: The chief executive of Arts Council England will write shortly. Copies of the response will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the Arts Council spent on external public relations in each of the last five years; and what external public relations contracts it has placed for tender. [315215]
Margaret Hodge: The information requested is not held by my Department and relates to matters that are the responsibility of Arts Council England.
Accordingly, I have asked the chief executive of Arts Council England to write direct to the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood.
Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his latest assessment is of the effects on the arts industries of the recession. [314766]
Margaret Hodge: The picture across the sector is mixed, but many organisations have performed excellently in tough economic conditions. London theatres demonstrated very positive returns for 2009, in large measure attributable to the excellent quality of the artistic product.
There are concerns over a decrease in business investment and in income from charitable trusts and foundations. To mitigate this, Arts Council England’s sustain fund has made awards totalling £41 million to support 135 arts organisations through the recession. Government support including the Future Jobs Fund and funding for creative use of empty retail space, also supported by Arts Council Lottery funding, is significant in limiting the impact of this shortfall.
Local authorities will determine funding priorities according to local circumstance but I am confident that enlightened councils will continue to support the arts in recognition of their value and importance to local communities across the country.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his latest estimate is of the number of jobs in the arts industries lost as a consequence of the recession. [314767]
Margaret Hodge: My Department does not hold information on the number of jobs lost in the arts industries as a consequence of the recession.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has spent on (a) theatre, (b) opera, (c) musical and (d) film tickets for young people since 1997. [314890]
Margaret Hodge: The provision of tickets for young people to attend (a) theatre, (b) opera and (c) musicals is part of the ‘A Night Less Ordinary' scheme which, in its first nine months, gave around 122,000 free tickets to young people. The scheme, launched in February 2009 and implemented by Arts Council England, costs £2.5million and is financed by my Department via additional capital grant in aid in 2009-10. (d) There are no current schemes offering free film tickets to young people.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has spent on programmes related to libraries in each year since 1997. [315010]
Margaret Hodge: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Stevenage (Barbara Follett) to the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) on 21 October 2008, Official Report, column 244W.
Further to this answer DCMS grant in aid funding for the British Library from 2007 to date was:
| British Library funding, incorporating resource and capital grant in aid | |
| Financial Year | £000 |
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) provide funding in support of particular projects and programmes. The funding provided since 2007 was:
| MLA support for public libraries | |
| Financial Year | £000 |
In addition in 2007 £80 million has been allocated to public libraries by the Big Lottery Fund for the Community Libraries Programme.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has policy responsibility for public libraries but core funding for public libraries is paid to the 151 library authorities in England as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement, administered by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Local authorities' net current expenditure on public libraries, as advised by DCLG, was:
| Net current expenditure (public libraries, England) | |
| Financial Year | £000 |
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many times a Minister in his Department has visited the (a) British Museum, (b) Natural History Museum and (c) Science Museum on official duties in the last 12 months. [314757]
Margaret Hodge: Ministers from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have visited the British Museum four times, the Natural History Museum eight times and the Science Museum once, on official duties in the last 12 months.
Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many free passports have been issued under the Heroes Return scheme to residents of (a) Cleethorpes constituency, (b) North East Lincolnshire local authority area and (c) North Lincolnshire local authority area in each year since such passports were introduced. [315239]
Mr. Simon: The free passport scheme is a matter for the Home Office.
The Heroes Return initiative is run by the Big Lottery Fund which allows world war two veterans from the UK, Channel Islands and Republic of Ireland to apply for travel and accommodation costs to visit the places where they saw active service. They can also receive funding to take part in an official commemoration in the UK.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his most recent estimate is of the average number of people in each age group who use a local library each month. [314753]
Margaret Hodge: The DCMS Taking Part survey records the proportion of the population in each age group who use libraries each year and the latest data is presented in the table. Taking Part cannot provide monthly data or the average number of people in each age group who use a local library.
| October 2008 to September 2009 | |
| Age group (five bands) | Percentage |
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent steps his Department has taken to encourage the use of public libraries. [314754]
Margaret Hodge: The Government's consultation on the public library service closed on 26 January and a policy statement is expected to report in the spring. It will set out the Government's vision for a modern, world-class public library service and the necessary steps to achieve this vision.
There are a significant number of programmes funded by Government Departments, sponsored organisations and third sector partners which promote the increased use of public libraries: these include Bookstart, Book Ahead, Boys into Books, the Summer Reading Challenge, Booked Up, Fulfilling their Potential and the Vital Link.
The Big Lottery Fund's £80 million Community Libraries Programme is an investment across England to improve community learning opportunities through libraries. Part of this is offering the types of opportunities essential to the delivery of modern library services, including learning activities to attract new library users such as reading groups, writing groups, language classes, family learning activities, art and museum exhibitions, cultural activities, drama, information seminars and health initiatives.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2010, Official Report, column 1042W, on Royal Parks: parking, when he plans to lay the statutory instruments required to implement parking charges in Bushy and Richmond parks. [315460]
Margaret Hodge: The statutory instrument required to implement parking charges in Bushy and Richmond Parks was laid on 1 February.
Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many free television licences have been issued to residents of (a) Cleethorpes constituency, (b) North East Lincolnshire local authority area and (c) North Lincolnshire local authority area in each year since such licences were introduced. [315237]
Mr. Simon: My Department does not hold the information. Free television licences for people aged 75 or over are issued by TV Licensing as agents for the BBC. This is therefore a matter for the BBC.
I understand that the BBC does not break down the distribution of free licences by reference to parliamentary constituency or local authority area.
Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many discounted television licences have been issued to blind and sight-impaired people resident in (a) Cleethorpes constituency, (b) North East Lincolnshire local authority area and (c) North Lincolnshire local authority area in each year since such licences were introduced. [315238]
Mr. Simon: My Department does not hold the information. Discounted television licences are administered for the blind and partly-sighted by TV Licensing as agents for the BBC. This is therefore a matter for the BBC.
I understand that the BBC does not break down the distribution of free licences by reference to parliamentary constituency or local authority area.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of EU regulations on the sulphur content of oil used in Aga ovens; and what assessment has been made of the costs of these regulations to owners of Agas. [313739]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
The Sulphur Content of Liquid Fuels Directive (1999/32/EC as amended) aims to reduce air pollution by limiting sulphur dioxide emissions that can cause acid rain. The directive specifies that from January 2008 no person may use gas oil (which includes oil for domestic heating purposes) with a sulphur content greater than 0.1 per cent.
The Government have made no assessment of the effectiveness of this fuel in Aga ovens, nor of the costs to Aga owners.