THE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES
OFFICIAL REPORT
IN THE SECOND SESSION OF THE FIFTY-SECOND PARLIAMENT OF THE
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
[WHICH OPENED 7 MAY 1997]
FORTY-NINTH YEAR OF THE REIGN OFHER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II
SIXTH SERIES
VOLUME 345
SEVENTH VOLUME OF SESSION 1999-2000
House of Commons
Monday 28 February 2000
The House met at half-past Two o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker in the Chair]
DEATH OF A MEMBER
Madam Speaker: I regret to have to report to the House the death of Mr. Michael Colvin, Member for Romsey, together with the death of his wife Nichola. I am sure that hon. Members in all parts of the House will join me in mourning the loss of Michael and Nichola and in extending our deep sympathy to their family and their friends.
Oral Answers to Questions
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
The Secretary of State was asked--
Social Exclusion
1. Mr. Peter L. Pike (Burnley): What recent assessment his Department has made of the contribution that arts and sport can make to tackling social exclusion; and if he will make a statement. [110596]
The Minister for Sport (Kate Hoey): My Department's report to the social exclusion unit, the policy action team 10 report "Arts and Sport", which was
published in July 1999, set out the contribution of the arts and sport to tackling social exclusion. There have been a number of initiatives since its publication, all designed to enhance the contribution of sport and the arts to this important issue.
Mr. Pike: Does my hon. Friend agree that people living in areas of social exclusion and poverty often cannot participate in sport or afford to watch it? Is it not vital for lottery and Government funds to be used to aid projects such as the community project launched by Burnley football club, and, indeed, to descend to the grass roots in tackling the problem of those suffering social exclusion?
Kate Hoey: My hon. Friend is right. The lottery has a real role in the distribution of funds to sport, especiallyin getting money to where it is most needed. The announcement of the establishment of 12 sport action zones marked the beginning of the process, and we look forward to such zones being widespread throughout the country.
Mr. John Greenway (Ryedale): Sport England revealed today that 89 per cent. of six to-eight-year-olds and 79 per cent. of nine to-11-year-olds spend less than two hours a week in physical education lessons. What kind of social exclusion is that? Does not that shocking analysis confirm the depth of the crisis affecting sport in schools, which involves children from all backgrounds?
When will the Minister publish her sports strategy? How can anyone be confident that the decline can be reversed, when school playing fields are being sold off at a greater rate than ever before, and the Department for Education and Employment is not listening?
Kate Hoey:
I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his post and look forward to a long, productive and constructive relationship with him. I know that we have things in common, which we will not go into at this stage.
We welcome Sport England's young people in sport survey 1999. It contains encouraging material, but it also raises worrying points about what is happening in our
primary schools. As the hon. Gentleman knows, we are taking that into account. There have been a number of developments, including the announcement of the establishment of school sport co-ordinators and of sports colleges, which are working with local feeder primary schools.
Together with the Department for Education and Employment--because action must be taken jointly--we are doing what we can to ensure that teacher training is improved for primary schools with physical education expertise, and I think that we shall see real improvement over the next couple of years.
2. Mr. David Winnick (Walsall, North):
When he proposes that the free television licence for those aged 75 years and over will start. [110597]
3. Mr. Gordon Prentice (Pendle):
What is the starting date for the television licence concession for those aged 75 years and over; and if he will make a statement. [110598]
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr. Chris Smith):
As I announced in my statement to the House on the future funding of the BBC on 21 February, free television licences for people aged75 or over will come into force from 1 November this year.
Let me take this opportunity to correct a misimpression that I may have inadvertently given the House last Monday. I indicated then that a copy of the Pannell Kerr Forster report on the finances of the BBC was being placed in the Library of the House. In fact, a copy of the summary and conclusions of the report was being so placed, because the body of the report contains commercially confidential information. I apologise for any erroneous impression that I may have given.
Mr. Winnick:
Is not the issuing of free television licences for those aged 75 and over a good illustration of what we do in office and what the Tories refused to do--that is, try to help people? Is it not better to be motivated by the wish to help people than to be motivated by simple personal ambition--naming no names for the moment?
Mr. Smith:
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He has a long and honourable record of campaigning on the issue in the House. According to the figures from the latest census--which, unfortunately, was held nearly 10 years ago--there were 5,930 people aged over 75 in his constituency at that time. The number has almost certainly increased since then, and I am sure that many thousands of his constituents will be very pleased about what the Government are doing.
Mr. Prentice:
Meanwhile, 6,500 of my constituents will be celebrating the introduction of this hugely popular policy.
Yesterday, when I was canvassing in a Lancashire county council by-election--[Interruption.] I do not need to register anything. When I was canvassing, a numberof pensioners said to me, "Is this not just age discrimination?" I replied, "You will be 75 one day."
Nevertheless, why should such a hugely popular policy involve a cut-off at 75? Why should it not apply to all pensioner households?
Mr. Smith:
My hon. Friend should address part of his question to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. However, it should be pointed out that as pensioners reach a more advanced age they tend to become less mobile, to spend more time at home and, indeed, to spend more time watching television. At that point--the point at which they reach the age of 75--television becomes more important in their lives, which is why we thought it appropriate to take this step.
Mr. Christopher Chope (Christchurch):
The Secretary of State is trying to pass the blame on to the Chancellor. Is it not the Secretary of State's responsibility that, from April, pensioners who are under the age of 75 will have to pay a television licence tax double the rate of inflation? Is that not totally unfair? Can he explain why he did not disclose the whole of the Pannell Kerr Forster report? Is not the truth that it was politically embarrassing and that is why the Government have not disclosed it? If it is so commercially sensitive, why is it that leaks can be put in The Sunday Times, for example, telling us that there are 200 profit centres within the BBC--information that is not available in the summary of the report, but which apparently is suitable for leaking?
Mr. Smith:
No, I cannot accept any of that. The measures that we have put in place will, over the next six to seven years, provide the BBC with a modest and regular increase in its funding to enable it to maintain and improve its position as our premier public service broadcaster. That is one of the reasons I am encouraging the BBC to ensure, for example, that it makes more new programmes and broadcasts fewer repeats. That is one of the things that I expect to result from the measures that we have put in place.
Dr. Julian Lewis (New Forest, East):
At the risk of intruding on the Secretary of State's love-in with at least one of his Back Benchers, may I ask him to explain why he has done nothing to address the anomaly whereby people aged between 60 and 74 who are in sheltered accommodation receive concessions on what they have to pay for their television licences, and people of those ages who are not in sheltered accommodation do not? Does he not agree that the fact that people are in sheltered accommodation is no guarantee of what their income really is?
Mr. Smith:
I hate to point out to the hon. Gentleman that, throughout the 18 years or more that the Conservatives were in government, they did absolutely nothing--not even the admirable measure that we are taking in relation to the over-75s. We looked carefully, as did the Davies committee, at the concession for people in sheltered accommodation. We thought it right to keep it in place because it would not be sensible to remove a concession that was already there, but we did not feel that it was appropriate at this stage to go further.
Helen Jones (Warrington, North):
Will my right hon. Friend answer a query that has been raised by a number of pensioners in my constituency? Has he given any
Mr. Smith:
Yes. If the television licence of anyone who will be 75 or over on 1 November falls due after 1 April, they will be able to apply for a part-year licence up to 1 November so they do not have to purchase the entire year's licence. If anyone has already purchased a full year's licence, some of which will be unexpired on 1 November, they will be entitled to a refund. We will ensure that all the details of the scheme are made available directly to everyone who will qualify.
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