§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Chichester constituency, the effects on Chichester of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [155280]
§ Mr. Chris SmithSince May 1997 my Department has introduced and developed a variety of initiatives which will impact on the constituency of Chichester which promote our objectives of access, excellence, education and creativity and employment. We have published our strategies to take this forward in "Tomorrow's 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 538W extended to everyone in December 2001. We have commissioned a task force 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 thaw up regional cultural strategies identifying regional objectives and priorities.
We have published a Green Paper "Culture and Creativity: The Next Ten 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.
Through 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 Chichester.
In delivering these initiatives we aim to make cultural and sporting activities inclusive ones, boosting participation and improving the quality of life for all.
Chichester
According to the information supplied to us by the distributing bodies for the national lottery awards database, there have been 93 national lottery awards to Chichester totalling £8,561,530.
Thirty-five Millennium Award Winners have been identified from Chichester and between them have received grants totalling £80,834.
ReSource have recently allocated £75,888 from the Designated Challenge Fund to the 'Weald and Downland Open Air Museum'. They were previously allocated £64,000 in May 2000 and £72,800 in July 1999.
English Heritage have offered the following grants.
539W
£ Site Offer date Grant offer Payments to date St. Andrew's Church, Tangmere 13 March 2001 17,000 None Cowdray Castle, Midhurst 27 March 2000 200,000 None St. Giles Church, Merston 30 March 2000 32,385 None St. Mary and St. Gabriel, South Harting 12 January 1998 81,100 72,990 The Chapel, Petworth House 24 March 1998 18,000 18,000 Chichester Cathedral (South West Tower) — 2,500 2,500 Chichester Cathedral (Nave Aisle) — 13,000 13,000 Information 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 10,500 people aged 75 or over living in the Chichester constituency.
There are of course other initiatives in the wider context of West Sussex which may have an effect on the Chichester constituency. These are:
- West Sussex Library Authority, which includes the Chichester constituency, was a partner in a consortium which received an award of £145,138 from the DCMS/Wolfson Public Libraries Challenge Fund in 1998–99.
- South East Arts received £4,046,000 in 2000–01 from the Arts Council to support arts and cultural activity across its region. In 2001–02 this will increase to £4,847,711 or by 19.8 per cent.
DCMS/Wolfson Public Libraries Challenge Fund—awards to London library authorities £ Local authority 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 Barking and Dagenham — — — 60,000 Barnet 114,873 — — 1160,739 Bexley — — — 47,571 Brent 63,000 — — 49,758 and 1116,823 Bromley — — — — Camden — — 1109,233 1160,739 and 1116,823 City of London — — — — Croydon — 128,446 — 1149,645 Ealing 49,096 — 102,187 27,845 Enfield — — — 160,739 Greenwich — — — — Hackney — — 1109,233 166,649 Hammersmith and Fulham — — — 1116,823 Haringey 86,419 — — 1160,739 and 166,649 Harrow — — — — Havering — — — 1160,739 Hillingdon — — — 1116,823 Hounslow — — — — Islington — — 1109,233 1149,645 and 1160,739 and 166,649 Kensington and Chelsea — — — 1116,823 Lambeth — — 165,679 — Lewisham — — — — Merton — — — 32,225 and 17,482 Newham — — — 1160,739 Redbridge — — — 1160,739 Richmond Upon Thames — — — — Southwark 40,191 — — 25,189 Sutton — — — 17,482 Tower Hamlets — — — 1160,739 Upper Norwood — — — — Waltham Forest — — — 1160,739 Wandsworth 50,000 — — — Westminster — — — 1116,823 1 The authority was a partner in a consortium of authorities which received the amount indicated. It is not possible to say what proportion of consortium awards benefited a particular partner authority