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29 Jun 2010 : Column 466W—continued
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 14 June 2010, Official Report, column 245W, on Olympic Games 2012: North West, what Olympics cultural legacy projects are planned for the North-West region. [4035]
Hugh Robertson: The Cultural Olympiad comprises cultural events in the run-up to the London 2012 Games that aim to leave a cultural legacy. The Cultural Olympiad includes Major National Projects, annual Open Weekends and individual projects that have been awarded the Inspire Mark.
Some of the Cultural Olympiad Major National Projects include a regional component. "Artists Taking the Lead" features cutting edge art works in each region. In the North-West this work is Projected Column by Anthony McCall which will be located in Morpeth Dock, Birkenhead. "Stories of the World" is a UK wide series of exhibitions featuring collections reinterpreted by young people, local communities, historians, artists and other fresh voices. In the North-West the exhibition is Global Threads, based around Lancashire's heritage of textiles and cotton mills.
Open Weekend 2010 will take place over 23-25 July. So far, 36 cultural and sports events in the North West have been registered.
13 cultural projects in the North-West have been awarded the Inspire Mark. Three examples are "Lakes Alive", a programme of street art events across the Lake District and Cumbria; "Places of Public resort", an interactive heritage project for the Liverpool BBC Live site; and "Abandon Normal Devices", a brand new arts festival for the North West alternating annually between Liverpool and Manchester.
As elsewhere in the UK, Cultural Olympiad events will bring communities in the North-West together, allowing local people to access activities they may never have experienced before leading to a broader interest and participation in cultural pursuits that will extend beyond 2012.
Olympic Games 2012: Triathlon Homes
Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many of the affordable homes in the Olympic Village development owned by Triathlon Homes will be made available as social rented homes for people on local housing waiting lists in (a) Tower Hamlets and (b) other host boroughs. [4148]
Hugh Robertson [holding answer 28 June 2010]: The Triathlon agreement entered into in 2009 includes 1,379 affordable homes in the Olympic Village. The lettings policy is currently being developed by Triathlon Homes, in full consultation with the five host boroughs, the Greater London Authority and the London Mayor's housing strategy.
Olympic Games 2012: Wigan
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what he expects the legacy of the 2012 Olympics will be for the Metropolitan borough of Wigan; and if he will make a statement. [4088]
Hugh Robertson: As part of the north-west region, Wigan stands to gain from the wide range of opportunities created by the 2012 Games. I therefore refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 14 June 2010, Official Report, column 245W.
In addition, I can confirm that at least two companies in Wigan have been awarded contracts in the London 2012 supply chain.
Details of the Olympic Delivery Authority's suppliers are published in the business section of the London 2012 website under the heading ODA Suppliers:
Businesses that win work in the supply chains of ODA's contractors, such as the two companies in Wigan, are not public procurements and therefore a comprehensive list of these supply chain contractors is not available. However a number have been identified by the ODA as part of its supply chain research which was published in November last year on the London 2012 website.
Sports: Facilities
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what mechanisms are in place to prevent the sale or redevelopment of community sports facilities other than playing fields. [4002]
Hugh Robertson: The sale of community sports facilities are primarily matters for local authorities. Sales by local authorities would be based on proposals by individual local authorities as central government does not determine what assets they may wish to sell.
Any disposal of an asset (land or building) should be based on a local, robust needs assessment. In the case of a built sports facility, local authorities should only release assets where there is no proven need-a proportion of any revenue saving or capital receipt should be reinvested back into community sports facilities in order to meet customer needs.
Northern Ireland
Departmental Official Cars
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his policy is on the use by Ministers in his Department of cars allocated from (a) his Department's pool and (b) the Government car pool which are manufactured in the UK; whether Ministers in his Department are entitled to request the use of a car manufactured in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [2421]
Mr Paterson: The Northern Ireland Office uses cars provided by the Government Car and Dispatch Agency as necessary for official ministerial business under guidelines provided by the Cabinet Office. Ministers in the Department are not involved in decisions relating to the origin of manufacture. This is exactly the same arrangement as existed under the previous Administration.
Mr Watson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers in his Department are entitled to the
use of (i) a car with a dedicated driver, (ii) a car from the Government car pool and (iii) a taxi ordered through a departmental account. [3198]
Mr Paterson: No civil servant or special adviser in the Northern Ireland Office is entitled to a car with a dedicated driver. Civil servants and special advisers use public transport where possible but may use a car from the Government Car and Dispatch Agency or a pre-booked taxi when it is necessary to help meet a departmental business need.
Devolution
Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the First and Deputy First Minister for Northern Ireland on the devolution of further powers to Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [4194]
Mr Paterson: As Secretary of State I have had no discussions with the First and Deputy First Minister for Northern Ireland on the devolution of further powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Irish Language: Finance
Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland by what mechanisms the £8 million allocated the development of the Irish language after the Hillsborough Agreement of 4 February 2010 will be disbursed; and what criteria will be used to determine which groups receive assistance from that fund. [4275]
Mr Paterson: The previous Government provided £8 million to a charitable trust-the Irish Language Investment Fund-which will make grants to capital projects in support of Irish language development in communities in line with their business plan.
Public Expenditure
Mr Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will discuss with the Chancellor of the Exchequer steps to reduce the difference in the per capita level of public expenditure between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. [4261]
Mr Paterson: Most public expenditure in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive. The coalition's programme for Government makes it clear that the priority must be to reduce the deficit and therefore any change to the devolution funding system must await the stabilisation of the public finances.
House of Commons Commission
House of Commons Staff: Costs
Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, answering for the House of Commons Commission, how much the House of Commons service has spent on (a) staff costs and (b) other costs in respect of each Select Committee in the most recent year for which figures are available. [4583]
Sir Stuart Bell: Overall costs of Select Committees in financial year 2009-10 are given in the following table. Details of Select Committee staff costs and a breakdown of costs by committee for financial year 2009-10 will be placed in the Library. The information will also be published shortly in the sessional return for 2009-10 (HC 1).
| Select committee costs in FY2009-10 | |
| Costs: | £ |
Scotland
Electoral Register
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Electoral Commission on its report on unregistered voters in Scotland. [4452]
Michael Moore: I plan to meet the Electoral Commission soon and I expect to discuss a range of matters with them, including electoral registration.
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps his Department plans to take to reduce the number of unregistered voters in Scotland in response to the recent report by the Electoral Commission; and what discussions he plans to hold with electoral registration officers in Scotland on the matter. [4453]
Michael Moore: The Electoral Commission has met with all electoral registration officers in Scotland to discuss the findings of its recent report and to seek improvements in Scotland's registration levels. As a first step, I will be seeking an update on progress on improvements when I meet with the Electoral Commission soon.
Fossil Fuel Levy
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) Chief Secretary to the Treasury on the fossil fuel levy; and what his plans are for the release to Scotland of funding allocated under the scheme. [4456]
Michael Moore: I have had numerous discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. The fossil fuel levy issue was raised at the Joint Ministerial Committee Plenary meeting of 8 June 2010. In addition, the Budget of 22 June announced that the Government will review the control and use of accumulated and future revenues from the fossil fuel levy in Scotland.
Future Jobs Fund
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether Ministers in his Department (a) have had recent discussions and (b) plan to have discussions with representatives of (i) the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and (ii) Scottish local authorities on the ending of the Future Jobs Fund. [4457]
Michael Moore: I met the chief executive and the deputy chief executive of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations on 21 June and discussed the Future Jobs Fund, among other things. I have no immediate plans to discuss the Future Jobs Fund with representatives of Scottish local authorities. I had an introductory telephone meeting with Councillor Pat Watters, president of the Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities on 22 June. The Future Jobs Fund was not raised at that meeting.
Video Games
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the computer games industry in Scotland on the prospects for that industry; [4454]
(2) what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport on the future of the computer games industry in Scotland. [4455]
Michael Moore: I have had none. However, as the hon. Member will know, the computer games industry is very important to Scotland's economy and I look forward to meeting representatives of the sector when an appropriate opportunity arises.
Transport
Crossrail Line
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects construction work on the Crossrail project to be completed. [4165]
Mrs Villiers: The planned date for commencement of Crossrail operations remains 2017.
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the merits of proposals to reduce the planned length of Crossrail trains. [4051]
Mrs Villiers: In order to ensure that the project offers value for money and remains affordable, Crossrail Ltd is considering a number of value management and engineering options as they finalise designs for the scheme. This work has not yet been completed and no formal decisions have been sought from the Crossrail sponsors on the matter of the planned length of trains.
Departmental Manpower
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) special advisers and (b) press officers are employed by his Department; and at what civil service pay grade in each such case. [1275]
Norman Baker: The information requested is as follows:
(a) A list of special adviser appointments was published by the Prime Minister on 10 June 2010, Official Report, columns 33-34WS.
(b) The number of full-time equivalent staff (FTE) employed on press officer activities on the 1 April 2010 by the Department is set out by grade in the following table.
| Staff (FTE) employed on press officer activities on 1 April 2010 | |||||||
| Grade( 1) (equivalent)( 2) | PB2 (AO) | PB3 (EO) | PB4 (HEO) | PB5 (SEO) | PB6 (Grd7) | PB7 (Grd6) | SCSPB1 (Grd5) |
| (1) Grade pay bands of the central Department. (2) Civil service grade equivalent. | |||||||
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