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30 Apr 2009 : Column 1426W—continued
Mr. Michael Foster: Progress in Yemen against selected indicators for each of the Millennium Development Goals was published in the Department for International Development’s (DFID) 2008 Autumn Performance Report in December. This is available in the Library of the House or on-line at
A more detailed assessment will be published in DFID's 2009 Annual Report in July.
Culture, Media and Sport
Arts: Finance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding (a) his Department, (b) Sport England, (c) the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and (d) the Arts Councils is providing to each of the regional cultural observatories in 2009-10. [271228]
Barbara Follett: Prior to April 2009, collaborative research activity across culture and sport was centred on Regional Cultural Observatories (RCOs) and research capacities led by the Regional Cultural Consortiums (RCCs). As a result of the recent DCMS Review of Regional Working, the RCCs closed on 31 March 2009. The Arts Council, in partnership with English Heritage, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and Sport England has commissioned BMG Research to conduct an options appraisal to consider how regional culture and sport research needs can best be met now that the RCO hosts have ceased to operate. This project is expected to report in June 2009. DCMS funding of RCOs ended with the closing of the RCCs on 31 March 2009. In the meantime, some of the functions and services that were previously provided by RCOs are continuing in some regions. In particular, in the North West a consortium of higher education institutions, led by the University of Liverpool, has become the new host for the North West Cultural Observatory and the Arts Council is contributing £10,000 to support the transition to the new arrangements in 2009-10.
Commonwealth Games 2014: Finance
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have had any recent discussions with (i) the Secretary of State for Scotland and (ii) Scottish Executive Ministers on National Lottery funding for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. [271826]
Barbara Follett: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has had regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Scotland on matters relating to the Commonwealth Games, sport and the National Lottery. He also discussed the legacy for the Commonwealth Games with the Scottish Minister for Public Health and Sport (Shona Robison MSP) on 31 March 2009.
Departmental Assets
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when his Department last reviewed its assets and land and property holdings with a view to identifying and disposing of surpluses. [269858]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department last reviewed its assets and land and property holdings in March 2009.
Departmental Energy
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the changes recommended by the producers of the display energy certificate for 2-4 Cockspur Street regarding (a) run around coils for the air handling units and (b) a heat recovery heat pump for the comms room have been implemented. [270851]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department is currently carrying out a feasibility study to determine whether it is cost effective to install run around coils for the air handling units and heat recovery heat pump for the comms room.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport for what reason there was an underspend against his Department’s estimated Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit in 2008-09 as referred to in the Budget 2009 Red Book, Table C11. [271820]
Andy Burnham: For 2008-09, the capital expenditure limit of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport includes both voted estimate provision and a departmental unallocated provision.
The main elements of the underspend are: (i) an unspent departmental unallocated provision of £168 million, which was provided for the Olympics in the Spending Review 2007, and (ii) an estimated underspend by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) in the financial year 2008-09, compared to their estimate provision.
The ODA’s funding is ring-fenced and the intention is that funds unspent in 2008-09 will be made available to meet the spending pressures primarily in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what contribution he expects each of his Department's (a) agencies and (b) business areas to make towards value for money savings in 2010-11 as referred to in paragraph C71 of the Budget 2009 Red Book. [271821]
Andy Burnham: The current detail as to how these savings will be delivered is set out in table 6.1 of the Budget 2009.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport under which budgetary headings reductions to his Department's Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit for 2010-11, as referred to in Table C11 of the Budget 2009 Red Book, have been made. [271824]
Andy Burnham: The budgetary headings that have been reduced, and are reflected in Table C11 and Chapter 6 table 6.1 of Budget 2009 are Arts, Heritage, Museums, Galleries and Libraries, Sport, Broadcasting and Film.
Gambling Commission: Expenditure
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent on staffing costs at the Gambling Commission in 2008-09. [271609]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 28 April 2009]: The Gambling Commission have advised that £9,265,710 was spent on staffing costs in 2008-09. This figure includes all pension and national insurance costs.
Legacy Trust UK: Expenditure
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the Legacy Trust UK has spent since its inception. [272055]
Andy Burnham: The Legacy Trust UK (LTUK) was established with a £40 million endowment from the Big Lottery Fund, the Arts Council England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to support a wide range of innovative cultural and sporting activities for all, which celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and leave a lasting legacy in communities throughout the United Kingdom.
Since its inception LTUK has awarded a total of £30 million in grants. This is split between the 12 Nations and Regions projects (£24 million) and the funding ringfenced for the UK School Games (£6 million).
Licensed Premises
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in what languages examinations for a personal licence to operate a pub, club or off licence can be taken. [270705]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 23 April 2009]: The Department's criteria for accredited personal licence course providers do not stipulate that examinations must be taken in languages other than English. Course providers are free to make a commercial decision to allow the examination to be taken in other languages if there is a demand for such a service.
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what requirements there are on designated premises supervisors to be present at the licensed establishment for which they are responsible; who takes responsibility when the supervisor is absent; and if he will make a statement. [270706]
Mr. Sutcliffe
[holding answer 23 April 2009]: Under the Licensing Act 2003 ("the Act"), a premises licence must require that every supply of alcohol must be made or authorised by a person who holds a personal licence. Each premises licence authorising the supply of alcohol must specify one individual holding a personal licence as the designated premises supervisor ("DPS"). A DPS has no other unique statutory responsibilities other than those which apply to personal licence holders or more generally, to all persons retailing alcohol, such as the prohibitions on sales to people under 18 years or to people who are drunk. Any number of personal licence holders may be employed at the premises and the purpose of specifying one personal licence holder as the DPS is
so that the police and other authorised persons under the Act have a single point of contact should some action need to be taken at the premises.
The Act itself does not require that the designated premises supervisor (DPS) should be present on licensed premises at all times when alcohol is sold. Indeed, given that the premises could be authorised to retail alcohol for up to 24 hours a day for 365 days each year, it would be unreasonable and probably unlawful to expect a single employee to be present at all times. Compliance with licensing law remains the responsibility of the premises licence holder (which may be a business, an organisation or an individual) at all times and cannot be delegated. Where necessary for the promotion of one or more of the four licensing objectives, a condition can be attached to a premises licence requiring the presence at all times of a personal licence holder.
Sports
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what baseline has been adopted against which to measure Sport England's progress towards the target of two million people regularly participating in sport by 2012; [269418]
(2) what baseline has been adopted against which to measure the Department's progress towards the target of two million people regularly participating in sport by 2012. [269419]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Government's 2012 Legacy Action Plan (LAP), published in June 2008, sets a cross-Government target to get two million more adults active through sport and physical activity by 2012. DCMS and Sport England lead on getting one million more people doing more sport. A range of Government Departments will deliver programmes that will increase wider physical activity. Many of these programmes are outlined in the Department of Health's new Physical Activity Plan ‘Be Active, Be Healthy’ published on 11 February 2009.
Baselines for the two million and sports targets will be established using the 2007-08 Active People Survey. The baseline for Sport England's one million sports target is 6.8 million, whereas the baseline for the wider two million target will be calculated to take account of the additional data collected on dance and gardening from January 2009 onwards.
A newly established Physical Activity Programme Board, chaired jointly by the Department of Health and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, will oversee the delivery of the programmes against the LAP target.
Sports: Training
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many voluntary community sports coaches have been appointed since the scheme’s inception. [272081]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Sport England has advised that there are no volunteer community sports coaches in the Community Sports Coach (CSC) Scheme. The CSC sports coaches were paid employees, therefore any volunteer coaches would not have been part of the Scheme.
Energy and Climate Change
Coal Fired Power Stations
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Wealdon of 11 March 2009, Official Report, column 525W, on Kingsnorth power station, when he plans to issue his consultation on a new framework for coal-fired power stations. [269203]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The timetable for publication of a planned new consultation on a new framework for coal fired power stations is currently under consideration.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 23 April 2009, Official Report, column 357, what percentage of GDP the Government are allocating to measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 2009 and 2020. [271857]
Joan Ruddock: The recently published impact assessment used the HMRC's macroeconomic model to estimate that the cost of meeting our EU and UK greenhouse gas (GHG) targets would be 0.35 per cent. of GDP in 2020, in the absence of an international deal on climate change. This is in line with the Committee on Climate Change's estimate that the cost of meeting our carbon budgets is less than 1 per cent. of GDP in 2020.
However the cost will come from a combination of private and Government expenditure, depending on the specific policies put in place to deliver the greenhouse gas reductions in each sector of the economy.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when a reply will be sent to the hon. Member for West Chelmsford's letters of 18 and 22 September 2008 transferred from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR Reference: 96790/96957) concerning Mr A Hall and Mrs Patricia Yelf Gustar, both of Chelmsford; and what the reasons are for the time taken to reply. [248582]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to his parliamentary question number 272000 today.
Parliamentary Questions: Government Responses
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he plans to reply to Question 248582, on replying to letters, tabled on 13 January 2009; and what the reasons are for the time taken to reply. [272000]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
I apologise that the hon. Member did not receive an answer to his question tabled on 13 January 2009 concerning replies to letters of 18 and
22 September 2008 on behalf of Mrs. P Y Gulstar and Mr. A Hall. I replied to these letters on 13 November and 31 October 2008 respectively and officials have resent copies of my replies.
Warm Front Scheme
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps were taken in response to the recommendations of the White Young Green Report of July 2007 on the Warm Front Scheme; and if he will make a statement. [263604]
Joan Ruddock: The report made six main recommendations which are listed in the following table, along with the section of the report in which they appear and action taken.
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