Asked by: Lord Fearn (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many canals were fully self-operating during (1) 2014, (2) 2015, and (3) 2016 to date.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government does not hold this information. However, the Inland Waterways Association has compiled a directory of navigable waterways in Great Britain which can be accessed on its website.
Asked by: Lord Fearn (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of schools in Merseyside and Lancashire have a curriculum which includes physical education.
Answered by Lord Nash
We want all pupils to be healthy and active, which is why Physical Education remains a compulsory subject at all four key stages in the national curriculum. The curriculum is designed to ensure that all pupils develop the competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities, engage in competitive sports and are physically active for sustained periods of time.
Academies and free schools are not required to follow the national curriculum but must provide a broad and balanced curriculum. The Government has made it clear that the national curriculum should be a benchmark which academies can use and improve upon.
Asked by: Lord Fearn (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support has been given to the British Olympic team during the years 2014 and 2015.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
UK Sport’s investments in sports are made on a quadrennial rather than yearly basis, with all investment decisions and levels reviewed annually.
In the current 2013-17 Rio Olympic and Paralympic cycle, UK Sport are investing around £350 million in the Summer Olympic and Paralympic sports, and a further £31 million in the Winter Olympic and Paralympic sports, targeting success in PyeongChang 2018 and Tokyo 2022.
Asked by: Lord Fearn (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many community projects the football pools have supported or promoted in the years (1) 2004, (2) 2005, and (3) 2015.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
According to the website of Sportech PLC, which owns the Football Pools, as of 2015, "the pools" have contributed £1.3 billion, at today's value, to football, other sports, the arts and charitable initiatives in the UK, in recent decades. More information is available at http://www.sportechplc.com/our-business/football-pools/football-pools-donations-map.
Asked by: Lord Fearn (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many English piers have received government grants in (1) 2013, (2) 2014 and (3) 2015.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
There a number of grant programmes, funded by the taxpayer and the lottery, from which England’s 43 surviving piers can benefit. There is no central record of all government grants awarded to piers in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
It is clear that grants from initiatives such as the Coastal Communities Fund and the Coastal Revival Fund as well as the Heritage Lottery Fund, have been invaluable in assisting with restoration works and creating new businesses and jobs. Such grants help to preserve our heritage and increase visitor numbers.
At Hastings Pier, which will reopen to the public this spring, a £14 million restoration project was awarded funding through the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Coastal Communities Fund and from DCLG, among other sources. The new visitor centre, arts centre and restaurant will provide a boost to tourism and local businesses.
Asked by: Lord Fearn (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate, as a percentage of gross domestic product, of the economic importance of tourism to (1) England, (2) Wales, and (3) Northern Ireland, in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The latest Quarterly National Accounts (ONS) show that net household expenditure on tourism was 0.5% of UK gross domestic product in 2014. The first estimate of 2015 net tourism will be published by the ONS 31st March 2016. The ONS do not publish a breakdown of net tourism by England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Fearn (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the total annual spending by international students on fees for all types of course in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes statistics on the income and expenditure of publicly funded UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the annual publication “Higher Education Finance Plus”. An introduction to the publication is available at the following link: https://hesa.ac.uk/pr213 and is attached.
Table 1 of the publication details the source of income for UK HEIs. The total income from the course fees of non-EU domiciled students was £3,892m in the 2013/14 academic year, which represents 12.7% of the total income of UK HE providers.
Asked by: Lord Fearn (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the total annual spending of visitors and tourists in the domestic tourism sector in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
According to VisitEngland's Great Britain Tourism Survey, GB residents spent £22.7 billion on overnight trips taken across England, Scotland and Wales in 2014. Additionally, the Great Britain Day Visit Survey shows that over the same period, GB residents spent £53.8 billion on day visits across England, Scotland and Wales.Asked by: Lord Fearn (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the annual spending by inbound tourists to the UK and which countries are the 10 largest source markets from which those tourists come.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
According to the Office for National Statistics International Passenger Survey, inbound visitors to the UK spent £21.85 billion in 2014. The top ten inbound markets by spend last year are set out in the following table.
Top 10 inbound markets by value 2014
From | Spend (£m) | |
1 | USA | £2,944 |
2 | Germany | £1,478 |
3 | France | £1,434 |
4 | Australia | £1,224 |
5 | Spain | £1,082 |
6 | Italy | £922 |
7 | Irish Republic | £870 |
8 | Netherlands | £701 |
9 | Norway | £548 |
10 | Sweden | £503 |
More information can be found on the VisitBritain website -https://www.visitbritain.org/inbound-tourism-trends
Asked by: Lord Fearn (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the annual value of tourism to the UK economy.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Office for National Statistics has estimated that tourism was worth £59.6 billion Gross Value Added to the UK economy in 2014.