§ Mr. KaufmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on the Manchester, Gorton constituency, of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [136149]
§ Mr. Chris SmithThe only available statistical information broken down by parliamentary constituency is that relating to the National Lottery, Millennium Award Winners, the New Opportunities Fund and English Heritage. Manchester, Gorton has received £4,142,999 from the National Lottery since 2 May 1997 (nearly five times as much as the period prior to May 1997). Twenty-one Millennium Award winners have been identified from Gorton and between them they have received grants totalling £76,817.
Schools in the Gorton constituency have benefited from more than £295,000 from the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) ICT Training for Teachers and Librarians programme, which improves staff ICT skills within the classroom to attain higher pupil standards. English Heritage (EH) contributed £15,000 towards the development of a conservation and feasibility study for the future development of the Monastery of St. Francis, Gorton (Grade II* building at risk) in August 1997. The study formed a major part of the Monastery of St. Francis Gorton's Trust application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). This year the HLF made an offer of £2.77 million to the Trust. They required funding to work up and submit their final proposals to HLF. EH contributed £20,000 towards funding of development of their proposals.
140WGreater Manchester
Greater Manchester has received £286,552,685 from the National Lottery since 2 May 1997. Major projects include £21,869,600 for Manchester Commonwealth 50 Pool; Diving Pool; Main Pool and Training Pool and an additional £17,110,250 for the Royal Exchange (which received £2,747,000 in March 1997).
There are of course other initiatives in the wider context of Manchester which will have an effect on the Gorton constituency. These are:
The "Space for Sport and the Arts" scheme has targeted nearly £7 million at local education authorities in the Manchester area, which should lead to the creation of some 15 new facilities for sport and the arts for use by primary schools and the community. Half of the total (£3.5 million) is for the Manchester LEA which covers the Gorton constituency area.Just over a mile away the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games stadium is being built. Under DCMS' policy to encourage major and international events £112 million of Lottery funds have been made available to develop facilities. A volunteer programme will be launched, which will recruit 15,000 local people to help in all aspects of the Games, including a large number in the opening and closing ceremonies. There will be a positive effort to ensure that residents of disadvantaged areas, the unemployed, young people aged 16–24 and ethnic minority communities are made aware of the opportunities and actively encouraged to participate.Free entry for children from April 1999 and pensioners from April 2001 to the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.National Foundation for Youth Music Awards—£58,000 for Band on the Wall which promotes live music, specialising in jazz and will run a two-year series of composition and performance programmes for 13 to 18-year-olds in a variety of venues in Manchester, Salford, Tameside and Trafford including at the Bridgewater Hall, Contact Theatre and Lowry. £59,800 to the Halle Concerts Society. The Education Programme of the Halle Orchestra wants to provide young people aged 8-18 with the opportunity to play music in a group on a regular basis using the Halle's Javanese Gamelan and traditional orchestral instruments.The North West Arts Board received an additional £9,766,313 from the Arts Council this year to support arts and cultural activity across the region.Gorton constituents may benefit from the New Opportunities Fund Living with Cancer programme which has awarded more than £10 million to hospitals in the Northwest for new and replacement cancer equipment. Christie Hospital and Manchester University Hospital (NHS Trusts) have benefited from state of the art equipment to improve access to new and existing provision for patients suspected of being diagnosed with cancer, in line with nationally defined standards.