§ Dr. KumarTo 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 63W constituency, the effect on the Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency of his Department's policies and action since 2 May 1997. [153286]
§ Mr. Chris Smith[holding answer 12 March 2001]Since May 1997 my Department has introduced and developed a variety of initiatives which will impact on my hon. Friend's constituency which promote our objectives of access, excellence, education, and creativity and employment. We have published our strategies to take this forward in "Tomorrows Tourism" and "A Sporting Future for All", which was recently followed up by "The Government's Plan for Sport". We have tackled the issue of social inclusion taking forward the recommendations of Policy Action Team 10 on Arts and Sport and developing social inclusion policies across all our areas which is recognised within the most recent progress report "Building on PAT10".
We have given more support to the cultural and sporting infrastructure. The Spending Review 2000 secured a doubling of the budget for sport and the largest ever increase for the arts: an increase of 80 per cent. from £186 million in 1997–98 to £336 million in 2003–04. In taking forward our aim to develop the educational potential of culture and sport £40 million has been allocated to developing Creative Partnerships; we have established through lottery funding, the £30 million National Foundation for Youth Music; and secured an additional £130 million for primary schools sports and arts facilities through the Space for Sport and the Arts programme. With £120 million of central Government and Lottery funding we will be providing a school sports co-ordinator in one-in-four secondary schools to work with local primary and special schools to improve sporting provision and physical education for children in the most deprived areas. We have delivered free access to national museums for children and the over 60s and additional money will be provided to allow this to be extended to everyone in December 2001. We have commissioned a taskforce which is currently considering the issues facing non-national museums in the regions.
We have made improvements in the way the lottery is spent to ensure a fairer distribution. The introduction of the New Opportunities Fund for spending on health, education and the environment has made a real difference to communities everywhere. For instance it has invested £120 million to support the people's network, which will enable all 4,300 public libraries to offer free public internet access through UK online learning centres; and a further £50 million to stimulate development of content to support the network.
We have set up a regional cultural consortium in each of the English regions outside London to champion culture and creativity, including heritage, sport and tourism, and to draw up regional cultural strategies identifying regional objectives and priorities.
We have published a "Green Paper Culture and Creativity: The Next 10 Years", setting out how individual creative talent can be given the support it needs from childhood to flourish; how artists and cultural institutions can be freed from bureaucratic controls; and how the freedom to explore and enjoy creativity and culture can be made available to all.
64WThrough their commitment to public service broadcasting, the Government have helped to foster an environment in which a creative, commercially successful broadcasting industry provides a wide range of UK-made, high quality, original programmes catering for all viewers and listeners. We have ensured a secure funding base for the BBC and S4C, while giving them the freedom to develop commercial operations which complement and support their public service remit. We have made clear in the Communications White Paper that public service broadcasting will continue to have a key role to play in the digital future. The Government have introduced free television licences for people aged 75 or over from 1 November last year.
My Department sponsors the British Tourist Authority (BTA) which continues to promote Britain effectively as an attractive tourist destination for overseas visitors. The BTA's successful marketing activities are aimed at bringing benefits to all parts of the UK, including Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East.
In delivering these initiatives we aim to make cultural and sporting activities inclusive ones, boosting participation and improving the quality of life for all.
Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East
According to the information supplied to us by the distributing bodies for the national lottery awards database, there have been 114 national lottery awards to Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East totalling £6,476,562.
Eighteen millennium award winners have been identified from Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East and between them they have received grants totalling £34,488.
On 21 February, I announced the 16 areas in which it is hoped creative partnership pilots will be developed. Tees Valley is one of these areas. The Arts Council of England, which is delivering the initiative, will be consulting schools and creative organisations in each location over the next few months to establish which bodies will be involved. Details on how school and cultural organisations can take part in creative partnerships will be available from the Arts Council from early May. Funding for the initiative will come on stream in April 2002.
Under the Space for Sport and Arts scheme, Middlesbrough local education authority and Redcar and Cleveland local education authority have both been allocated up to £1.75 million towards providing improved facilities for sport and arts in primary schools which can also be used by the wider community.
School sport co-ordinators will be based in families of schools, in areas of greatest need, linked wherever possible through Local Education Authorities to specialist sports colleges. They will provide opportunities for young people to compete regularly for their school and take part in a wide range of sports. By 2004, there will be about 250 families established with 1,000 secondary schools and up to 6,000 primary schools benefiting directly from this programme. Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East was awarded £341,830 in the second round of awards. It has one partnership development manager, four school sport co-ordinators and 17 primary link teachers.
65WInformation on the number of beneficiaries of free television licences by constituency is not available, but estimates based on the 1991 census indicate that there were approximately 5,000 people aged 75 or over living in the Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency.
Middlesbrough Library Authority was a partner in the Information North consortium which received £498,000 in 1998–99 for an ICT Project.
Northern Arts has received an additional £2,936 million from the Arts Council this year to support arts and cultural activity across the region.