(2) when he expects the European Commission to rule on the sale of the Tote;
(3) when he last met the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss the sale of the Tote;
(4) what assessment he has made of the long-term effect on the monetary value to the Tote of changes in levels of online gambling;
(5) when the Tote’s market value was last independently estimated;
(6) with reference to the written ministerial statement of 5 March 2008, Official Report, column 114WS, on the sale of the Tote, whether he plans to make available to the horse racing industry half the net proceeds of an open market sale of the Tote;
(7) pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 22 October 2008, Official Report, column 12WS, what recent assessment he has made of market conditions for selling the Tote.
(2) which organisations he expects to receive funding allocations from the 50 per cent. of proceeds from the sale of the Tote to be returned to horse racing; whether such allocations will be net of pension and other liabilities; and if he will make a statement;
(3) whether he plans to grant a pool monopoly to a purchaser when selling the Tote; and if he will make a statement;
(4) what estimate he has made of the revenue likely to be received from the sale of the Tote; and if he will make a statement;
(5) what expressions of interest he expects to receive from potential purchasers of the Tote; whether he plans to consider bids from horse racing organisations; and if he will make a statement;
(6) if he will take steps to guarantee the revenue income stream to the horse racing industry from the Tote following its sale; and if he will make a statement.
The arrangements for the sale of the Tote are yet to be determined and discussions are continuing with all the relevant parties. The present intention is that the sale process itself will not start until summer 2010 with a latest completion date of March 2011. We expect to be able to give further details on the process in the next few months.
The Government’s position remains that we will honour our commitment to return half of the net proceeds of any market sale to racing subject to the requirements of European state aid and competition rules. I am unable to disclose commercially confidential or sensitive information about the valuation of the tote or prospective Government payments to agents.