HC Deb 22 May 2003 vol 405 cc898-9W
Mr. Coleman

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what specific or direct grants have been made by her Department to local authorities for 2003–04(a) in England and (b) broken down by local authority, identifying whether the grant is (i) ring fenced, (ii) a specific formula grant, (iii) within aggregate external finance and (iv) outside aggregate external finance. [114921]

Mr. Caborn

The information for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is as followsGrant to Tyne & Wear Museums Service: £1,100,000. A federation of ten museums and galleries run by the Tyne and Wear local authorities. This grant is ring fenced and is outside of Aggregate External Finance. Grant to Greater London Authority: £1,900,000. The grant is ring-fenced for tourism purposes and is inside Aggregate External Finance.

Under section 378 (1)(a) and (b) of the Greater London Authority Act (1999) the Greater London Authority has a duty to promote Tourism. Under the terms of the Agreement between DCMS and the GLA the DCMS grant must be used for tourism purposes.