Mr Iain Sproat: We estimate that there are about 500,000 listed buildings in England.
Mr Iain Sproat: My hon. Friend is entirely right, in that many people feel that the number of listed buildings has increased dramatically—perhaps excessively—over the past few years. The Government have encouraged English Heritage to consider certain themes—in addition to the geographical location of the buildings—such as old railways, old shops, schools and, as I said to my hon. Friend the Member...
Mr Iain Sproat: The hon. Gentleman has alluded to two extremely important buildings. I share his concern that they should not be allowed to deteriorate, and he will be glad to hear that they are not deteriorating. Representatives of English Heritage visit Battersea power station every few weeks, but I cannot recall exactly the frequency of visits paid to the old Greater London council building. They are...
Mr Iain Sproat: I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Staffordshire (Mr. Fabricant) on securing the debate. This is probably an opportune time to discuss such an issue, given that party political broadcasts will play an increasingly significant role for political parties, viewers and listeners as we approach the next general election. For many years, broadcasters have offered time for the main...
Mr Iain Sproat: My hon. Friend raises an extremely interesting point. I think that Amnesty International was specifically mentioned in the debate, and that that point was considered by the Committee. I should like to refresh myself on the Committee's exact words, but certainly my recollection is that the House of Commons, and therefore the Houses of Parliament, decided that it did not want a body such as...
Mr Iain Sproat: I was interested to hear the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Kaufman) say that the late Mr. Costain, who was once a Member of Parliament, had told him that it was a tradition of the House that Friday debates should be relatively uncontroversial. I had not known that. I think that it is a good idea. Usually, when the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Mr. Pendry) and I face...
Mr Iain Sproat: Well of course that is tourism. I shall come to the wider point in a minute. The right hon. Member for Copeland rightly said that museums and galleries were important to tourism. He then went on to say that we had cut funding. I am merely pointing out that, as so often, the Labour party is comprehensively wrong. We did not cut funding; we increased it. The right hon. Member for Copeland then...
Mr Iain Sproat: He is a very big mouse, and a very dangerous one, too, as a former boxing champion. Would Labour scrap the airport tax? On the subject of funding, we have also heard a lot from Opposition Members about the extra £100 million that the National Heritage Select Committee recommended should be added over five years to the amount of money that we give to the British Tourist Authority. My hon....
Mr Iain Sproat: I gave way for a minute and a half. That gave the hon. Gentleman plenty of time to say, "We will abolish the airport tax." Did he say that? No. There was plenty of time for him to say, "We will give an extra £100 million to the BTA." Did he say that? No. It was a total waste of time. He was asked a question and he did not even attempt to answer it. The key point is that we have a giant...
Mr Iain Sproat: The fact is that I have only to quote the words of the right hon. Member for Gorton. He rightly said that the tourism industry is a great success story. There are more visitors, more earnings and a bigger share of the world market, and we are going up in the world league. One cannot ask for much more than that. My right hon. Friend the Member for South Thanet (Mr. Aitken) made a point about...
Mr Iain Sproat: And Scotland.
Mr Iain Sproat: I thank the hon. Member for Hemsworth (Mr. Trickett) for raising this important issue today, for the way in which he did it and for bringing to my attention some of his concerns about the sport of cycling, the operation of the British Cycling Federation, and the use of the Manchester velodrome. I know that he has a keen interest in cycling, and I take his concerns very seriously. Those...
Mr Iain Sproat: I hear what the hon. Gentleman says. They are serious matters, and I will draw to Mr. Casey's attention not only the comments made by the hon. Gentleman in his speech but those in his intervention. I will undertake to ensure that a proper reply is sent to the hon. Gentleman. As I have advised the House and the hon. Member for Hemsworth on previous occasions, all sports governing bodies in...
Mr Iain Sproat: The forecast outturn costs of Southern Arts in 1996–97 are £4,306,000.
Mr Iain Sproat: I know from our discussions of the keen interest that my hon. Friend takes in the Athenaeum theatre in Warminster. Given that the Arts Council provides some 82 per cent. of Southern Arts' funding, I shall draw Southern Arts' activities to the attention of the chairman of the Arts Council.
Mr Iain Sproat: The Government are determined to restore competitive team games to the heart of school life. It is a crucial element of our overall strategy for sport, which ranges from revived sport in schools, through sport scholarships for top athletes, to the British academy of sport.
Mr Iain Sproat: I know of the project at Ashburton high school from previous discussions with my hon. Friend, and I congratulate him on the vigour with which he supports it. I shall gladly draw the attention of the Sports Council to what he says about that excellent project.
Mr Iain Sproat: To date, the national lottery distributing bodies have made a total of 112 awards worth a total of £7,105,070 to projects in Derbyshire. A full reply will be published in the Official Report.
Mr Iain Sproat: I have apologised in writing to the hon. Member for North-East Derbyshire (Mr. Barnes) for the Department misunderstanding his question, and I very gladly apologise to him again now. Derbyshire has not done so badly. Of the 101 counties in the United Kingdom, it is ranked 52nd, which is not too bad. If the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) wants some more lottery projects in his...
Mr Iain Sproat: There are many reasons why different constituencies and counties get more or fewer projects. The distributing bodies have been told by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State that they must take account of geographical distribution, but they are not allowed to solicit projects and are bound to consider each on its merits, which means that there will be a difference in spread around the...
