3 Feb 1997 : Column 657
House of Commons
Monday 3 February 1997
The House met at half-past Two o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker in the Chair]
NEW WRIT
For the county constituency of Wirral, South, in the room of George Barrington Porter, Esquire, deceased.--[Mr. Goodlad.]
Oral Answers to Questions
NATIONAL HERITAGE
National Lottery (Historical Items)
1. Mr. Mans: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will list those items of historical importance which have received national lottery funding in order to keep them within the United Kingdom. [12216]
The Minister of State, Department of National Heritage (Mr. Iain Sproat): The heritage lottery fund has made 33 grants for nearly £27 million for the acquisition of items of historical importance which might otherwise have been exported overseas. I have arranged for a full list to be placed in the Libraries.
Mr. Mans: I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Will he explain how the new National Heritage Bill will contribute towards keeping ever greater numbers of items in this country? Will he explain also how the Bill will allow lottery funds to be used for items that at present do not come within their remit?
Mr. Sproat: My hon. Friend is right to draw the attention of the House to the improvements that the National Heritage Bill will make. It will mean that lottery funds will be able to be used for the acquisition of individual items, as they are now, and it will mean that education, information technology access and other matters beyond preservation and maintenance will be able to be dealt with by the national heritage memorial fund.
Mr. Skinner: That was an interesting reply. As items of historical importance could be worth a bob or two, will this lousy Government, in their dying days, give a categorical assurance that, having bought such items with the proceeds of the lottery, they will not sell them off?
Mr. Sproat: There are two simple answers. First, it is a matter for the national heritage memorial fund, which makes decisions about how moneys will be disbursed. Secondly, there will be opportunities for clawback in the
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contract that is agreed between the memorial fund and a commercial organisation or a private person when lottery funds are allocated.National Lottery (Pitches)
2. Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will take steps to provide an all-weather pitch to every community in excess of 5,000 people using proceeds of the national lottery. [12217]
Mr. Sproat: The lottery sports fund for Wales has so far supported the provision of 20 all-weather pitches throughout Wales. The English lottery sports fund has so far supported the provision of 149 all-weather pitches, costing more than £11 million. In total, the national lottery has made more than 2,465 awards of some £428 million to provide new, improved and upgraded sports facilities across the UK.
Mr. Ainger: Is the Minister aware that in my county council area, which covers a population of 110,000, there are only two all-weather facilities? Does he accept that the best way of distributing lottery money fairly in terms of improvements to sports facilities is to provide all-weather facilities? That is the view taken by sports development officers. Rather than spending a significant sum on a few individual and high-profile capital investments, is it not about time that we started spreading more lottery money into rural areas and providing basic facilities that take account of Britain's appalling weather?
Mr. Sproat: It is certainly true that all-weather pitches are an extremely important addition to current sports facilities. Although 20 such pitches in Wales have been provided by the lottery, there are actually 62 all-weather pitches throughout Wales. The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, but all-weather pitches are not the only facilities that need to be provided. Where they are, however, the sports councils for Wales and England will take them fully into account.
Mr. Harry Greenway: I welcome all new sporting facilities, including all-weather pitches. Is my hon. Friend aware of the serious situation that will arise if the new football stadiums are not taken up in 2006 for the World cup? Is it not a disgrace that Union of European Football Associations has gone behind the Football Association's back to promote Germany rather than this country without telling anyone?
Mr. Sproat: It is certainly true that Wembley stadium is probably the biggest brand name stadium in the world, and that lottery money will be used to refurbish it to the highest possible standards.
On the other implications of my hon. Friend's questions, I have spoken to the Football Association many times in the past few weeks, and I am seeing its representatives immediately after Question Time.
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Airport Tax
3. Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what representations she has received on the impact of the airport tax on tourism in the United Kingdom. [12218]
Mr. Sproat: We have had representations from several tourism organisations. Tourism is a prosperous and expanding industry, and there is no evidence that the duty has had any significantly damaging effects on tourism. Indeed, since the duty was introduced in 1994, we have had record numbers of overseas visitors to the United Kingdom.
Mr. Bayley: The Minister will be aware that, in its first year, the airport duty raised £350 million for the Treasury. Has his Department make representations to the Treasury proposing that some of that money should be used to expand the job of the British Tourist Authority abroad to encourage tourists to come to Britain?
Mr. Sproat: No, it has not, because it is a well-known principle of government--it obtained under Labour Governments as well as the present one--that the Treasury does not like hypothecated income.
Sir Donald Thompson: Has my hon. Friend considered the effect of the tax on destinations within the United Kingdom? Does it not put a strain on airlines, especially given the amazing and huge revival of the railways since privatisation?
Mr. Sproat: I am glad about the improvement in the railways. It is true that the amount of money spent by our population on tourism has gone up at the same time as the spend by foreign visitors has increased. The answer to my hon. Friend's question is that the tax has not affected things one way or the other.
National Lottery (Canals)
4. Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many canal restoration projects have received funding from a national lottery funding body; and if she will make a statement. [12219]
The Secretary of State for National Heritage (Mrs. Virginia Bottomley): Canals and other inland waterways have been at the heart of many successful lottery bids throughout the country. They act as a focus for regeneration in their surrounding areas. So far, four major canal restoration projects have received lottery funding of nearly £52 million.
Mr. Luff: Does my right hon. Friend agree that that answer puts a different gloss on the Inland Waterways Association's rather negative campaign on canal funding? Her statement will bring great hope to Worcestershire, where the rejection by the Millennium Commission of the bid to refurbish the Droitwich barge and junction canals was so disappointing? Does she agree that such projects bring enormous benefits to a huge area--not just the
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immediate area around the canal--including to the excellent company, Viking Afloat, which is run by my constituent, Mr. Robert Bell, in Worcester?
Mrs. Bottomley: I am well aware of the economic effects of investing in our canals, and the huge opportunities for canal projects that are provided by lottery funding. I met someone at the boat show from the project to which my hon. Friend referred. Those involved in inland waterways were enormously excited by the potential for the holiday and leisure industry of this substantial investment.
Mr. Miller: If the Secretary of State recognises the importance of canals to our tourism infrastructure, why is she passing the responsibility on to the lottery rather than directly supporting projects, such as the Ellesmere Port boat museum, which is so important to tourism in my constituency?
Mrs. Bottomley: The hon. Gentleman knows that I visited that museum and was very impressed by it.
Mr. Miller: The right hon. Lady told me.
Mrs. Bottomley: I told the hon. Gentleman, because it would have been contrary to usual practice to visit without having given him prior warning. He shows that the Labour party would ensure that all lottery money went to its friends in local government and elsewhere, and would dictate policy. It wants to dictate the distribution of lottery funds. Lottery funds are distributed by independent bodies, and judgments on particular projects are a matter for them. I hope that a great deal more money will go to museums, as set out in our excellent policy document "Treasures in Trust".
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