§ Mr. WhittingdaleTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the impact of the removal of tobacco sponsorship on the sport of darts; and if she will make a statement. [68469]
§ Mr. CabornI am aware of the extent to which the British Darts Organisation is reliant on tobacco sponsorship and of the difficulties it faces in finding replacement sponsorship. I can assure my hon. Friend that the Government have looked very carefully at how best to achieve an end to the advertising and promotion of tobacco at sports events in a way that will minimise any damage to the sports concerned.
My Department has maintained a constant dialogue with the British Darts Organisation, partly through the Tobacco Sponsorship Task Force, and I fully understand its concern about the impact of a ban on British darts. As it remains the Government's intention, subject to consultation, to end tobacco sponsorship for non-global sports by the end of July 2003, it is vital that the British Darts Organisation continue its efforts to find replacement sponsorship.
1191WI will, of course, continue my own efforts in helping the British Darts Organisation and all other sports that would be affected by the ban, to ensure that they do not suffer unduly during the transition away from tobacco sponsorship.
§ Mr. WhittingdaleTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the future of the Tobacco Sponsorship Task Force. [68468]
§ Mr. CabornThe Sponsorship Tobacco Task Force last met in October 1999. Following that meeting it was agreed that the task force had completed its initial work of identifying the needs of sports affected by the ban on tobacco sponsorship. At that time these sports believed that it was too soon to be looking to replace existing contracts, and that the situation should be reviewed before the expiry of current contracts.
Following the introduction of the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill, and the proposed consultation on draft regulations, I wrote to the seven sports represented on the Tobacco Task Force on 14 April to ask for their thoughts on whether this might be an appropriate time for it to resume its work. So far, I have only received a response from the British Darts Organisation. Should the other six members respond favourably, the Government would be happy to reconvene the Tobacco Sponsorship Task Force.