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Disabled People
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what publicity he has given to recent changes in the Linking Rules for benefit for disabled people. [118241]
Mr. Bayley: In October 1998 we extended the linking period from eight weeks to 52 weeks for people leaving incapacity benefits to start work or training. Everyone who can gain from the protection is sent details about it. Details about the rule also appear in the appropriate Benefits Agency leaflets and guidance. In addition we have worked with some of the main welfare rights organisations to produce and promote guidance on the rules.
State Pensions
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people who became eligible for the basic state pension in December 1999 and January 2000 experienced a delay in obtaining their first pension payment. [118320]
Mr. Rooker: The number of people eligible to receive their basic pensions in December 1999 and January 2000 but who did not receive payment by their first pension pay day is not known and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
It is known, however, that some 37,000 claims were received in December, and 59,000 in January. Most of these people would not be eligible to receive their pension in those months, because Retirement Pension can be claimed up to four months in advance of the date pension is payable.
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CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Tourism and Culture (North-east)
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to promote tourism and culture opportunities in the North-east. [117942]
Janet Anderson: The Northumbria Tourist Board (NTB) will receive £340,687 for tourism projects in the region from the English Tourism Council in 2000-01--an increase of 31 per cent. on the current year. These projects include the development of information and communications technology to improve regional competitiveness and deliver added value for tourism businesses, which will help promote tourism throughout the North-east. The region, in common with all parts of England, also benefits from the promotion work of the British Tourist Authority (BTA), which promotes Britain as a visitor destination in overseas markets. The BTA is receiving £37 million from my Department this year.
Tourism and culture in the North-east have also benefited, both directly and indirectly, from the National Lottery (3,083 projects in the region have received awards totalling £334,087,674 according to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's National Lottery Awards Database which uses information supplied by the distributing bodies).
We have also established Regional Cultural Consortiums in each of the regions in England to champion the whole spectrum of cultural and creative interests, including tourism. The consortium for the North-east met for the first time in December last year. It is currently preparing a regional cultural strategy which will be seeking to identify the key tourism and cultural opportunities and priorities. Regional Development Agencies are also a key part of Government's commitment to regional development. My Department has sought to ensure, in consultation with One North East, the RDA for the North-east, that the contribution that tourism and culture can make to the regional economy is fully acknowledged in the economic strategy.
London Hotels
Mr. Butterfill: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will estimate the average percentage increase in hotel room rates in Central London between March 1994 and March 2000. [117520]
Janet Anderson [holding answer 5 April 2000]: The Government do not research and estimate average hotel room rates. However, I understand the information is available from travel and tourism consultancy firms.
Euro
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the effect membership of the euro would have on (a) the domestic tourism industry and (b) overseas visitors to the United Kingdom. [117927]
Janet Anderson: It is difficult to predict trends in visitor numbers and expenditure by tourists one year ahead, and we would be unwise to try to do so for the next
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decade. We are not able to forecast the possible effects of exchange rates on the tourism industry in or out of the euro zone in this way.
We are working hard, however, to ensure that tourism businesses in the UK are fully informed about the euro and the introduction of euro currency. My Department chairs a working group which seeks to raise awareness of the impact of the euro on tourism businesses and to disseminate information to the industry.
Resorts Taskforce
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) if the Resorts Taskforce will report on (a) health and safety, (b) employment, (c) environmental and (d) other regulations as they affect hotels and guest houses in seaside resorts; [117928]
- (2) if the Resorts Taskforce will report on the effects of the six bed rule on small hotels and bed and breakfast establishments; [117921]
(3) if the Resorts Taskforce will report on the effects of UK (a) membership and (b) non-membership of the euro on (i) domestic tourism and (ii) foreign visitors to the UK; [117933]
(4) if the Resorts Taskforce will report on the effects of VAT rates on accommodation (a) in the UK and (b) in the UK's European competitors; [117934]
(5) if the Resorts Taskforce will report on the deregulation of dry rooms in licensed hotels. [117935]
Janet Anderson: The Resorts Taskforce has not been set up specifically to consider any of the above points, many of which apply more widely than just to resorts. However, I will draw them to the attention of the Taskforce chairman, Peter Moore, who is a board member of the English Tourism Council (ETC).
The Resorts Taskforce was set up by the ETC in response to "Tomorrow's Tourism", which sets out the regeneration of our traditional resorts as one of its 15 key action points. The Taskforce's remit is to suggest ways in which resorts can be repackaged for tourism purposes and to highlight examples of best practice in successful resort regeneration for tourism. In order to produce its report it will consider a range of issues, including the history of resorts, the problems they face now, other matters affecting them and possible solutions based on existing best practice and new ideas.
Tourism
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the impact of the value of the pound on the (a) domestic tourism industry and (b) number of overseas visitors to the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [117936]
Janet Anderson: UK residents spent 16 per cent. more and took 19 per cent. more trips within the UK in 1999 compared with 1998, according to the UK Tourism Survey. I am advised by the British Tourist Authority (BTA) that a strong economy and lower unemployment
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levels are likely to be among the factors which have been encouraging UK residents to take more holidays in Britain as well as abroad.
The number of overseas visitors to the UK in 1999 was the second highest on record, according to International Passenger Survey estimates. While sterling appreciated more substantially against the euro than it did against the US dollar, the number of visitors from North America and Western Europe remained about the same as in 1998. The value of sterling is one of many factors that overseas visitors take into account when deciding whether to visit Britain.
Digital Radio
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects digital radio to reach (a) 90 per cent., (b) 95 per cent. and (c) 100 per cent. of the UK population. [118194]
Janet Anderson: I understand from the BBC and the Radio Authority estimates, that national BBC services and the commercial services broadcast by Digital One each presently reach over 60 per cent. of the UK population. I also understand from the Radio Authority that Digital One plans to extend its services to over 85 per cent. over the next two years. Digital radio is at an early stage and plans for the further expansion of the national networks have yet to be developed.
National Lottery
Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money has been awarded in National Lottery grants to finance CCTV schemes (a) nationally and (b) in Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement. [118214]
Kate Hoey [holding answer 7 April 2000]: Where Lottery funds are used to fund CCTV, CCTV is usually an element of a larger scheme. It is therefore not possible to identify separately how much Lottery money has been used to finance CCTV except at disproportionate cost.
My Department's National Lottery Awards Database shows only one award of £5,000 exclusively for CCTV. This award was not in Gloucestershire.
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