§ Mr. David StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to promote Gaelic television and radio broadcasts. [179466]
§ Estelle MorrisThe Government are keen to see a better deal for the future of Gaelic broadcasting, and will ensure that this informs discussions on the BBC Charter Review and the future of digital broadcasting more widely. We will co-ordinate fully with Scottish Ministers, given their responsibility for funding the Gaelic Media Service.
§ Mr. David StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many hours of Gaelic programmes were broadcast by(a) BBC1 Scotland, (b) BBC2 and (c) Radio Scotland in each of the last three years. [179467]
§ Estelle MorrisThe number of hours of Gaelic programmes broadcast per year is shown in the table.
Number of hours BBC1 Scotland 2001–02 62.34 2002–03 22.67 2003–04 0.00 BBC2 2001–02 86.32 2002–03 116.20 2003–04 162.48 Radio nan Gaidheal1 2001–02 2,496.46 2002–03 3,042,64 2003–04 3,300.6 1 No Gaelic programmes were broadcast on Radio Scotland
§ Mr. David StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many hours of Gaelic children's programmes were broadcast on television channels in each of the last three years. [179468]
1300W
§ Estelle MorrisThe number of hours of Gaelic children's programmes broadcast on television in the last three years is shown in the table:
Number of hours Scottish and Grampian TV 2001 13 2002 13 2003 7 BBC 2001–02 63.5 2002–03 65.03 2003–04 79.4 TeleG 2001 64 2002 65 2003 103
§ Mr. David StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations she has received from Gaelic groups concerning Gaelic television and radio broadcasting. [179469]
§ Estelle MorrisThis year the Department has received a representation from the Celtic Film and Television Festival concerning Gaelic television and radio broadcasting. In addition, the Minister for Media and Heritage recently met with the Chairman of the Gaelic Media Service.
We also received four responses from Gaelic groups to the BBC Charter Review consultation.