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20 Apr 2004 : Column 432W—continued
Digital Television
Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of accessibility to digital television in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland. [165677]
Estelle Morris [holding answer 19 April 2004]: Nearly three-quarters of the UK population are currently believed to have a full range of digital terrestrial television (DTT) services potentially available. Current estimates, provided by the BBC, of the coverage of DTT services in the nations are:
England: 73 per cent.
Scotland: 82 per cent.
Wales: 57 per cent.
Northern Ireland: 58 per cent.
Digital satellite signals are potentially available to almost all UK viewers, and may offer an alternative in areas where DTT signals are not available. Cable TV services are also available to more than half the UK population (primarily in urban areas).
Full details, including maps of the extension of DTT coverage which may be possible after digital switchover by re-using analogue TV frequencies and increasing transmission powers, are available in Ofcom's report 'Driving Digital Switchover'.
Green Minister
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what work her Department's Green Minister has undertaken in the last three months
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in that capacity; and what meetings her Department's Green Minister has attended in the last 12 months in that capacity. [165955]
Estelle Morris: In February, as the Green Minister for DCMS I endorsed the publication of my Department's strategy for sustainable development, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House. In the spirit of strengthening links for sustainable development between departments, as recommended by my colleague the Minister for Environment, I recently issued an invitation to ministers across Government to attend an informal discussion on how our various departments relate to the subject. This will take place in the Royal Parks' newly opened restaurant in St James's Park, during London Sustainability Weeks in June. The restaurant has a modern ecological design constructed from sustainably produced materials (larch, oak) and has a green turf roof. The food it serves is procured as far as possible from named small specialist English producers, and will be organic, British and seasonal. It will present information on the ingredients used in an educational, fun and original way.
Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what criteria she used for making the selection of 20 sports eligible for main Lottery funding; if she will list the 20 sports selected for Lottery funding; and whether crown green bowling was considered as a sport which might be eligible for main Lottery funding. [166798]
Richard Caborn:
The 20 sports eligible for priority lottery funding were selected by Sport England. The selection criteria were participation rates, retention, and levels of success. Sport England also considered the governance of each sport. Any sports can apply for lottery funding.
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England only: badminton, cricket, football, golf, hockey, netball, rugby union, rugby league, squash and tennis.
UK-wide (same treatment by Sport England, but also qualify for UK Sport One Stop Planning support: athletics, canoeing, cycling, equestrianism, gymnastics, judo, rowing, triathlon, sailing and swimming).
Crown green bowling was considered for priority funding. However, in comparison to the 20 sports chosen, there is less overall participation in numbers and diversity.
There is no reason why crown green bowling should not successfully apply for individual project lottery funding. Applications should be made to the new Regional Sports Boards that have been established to ensure that funding meets local and regional needs.
Civil Servants
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list for each civil service grade within her (a) Department and (b) Department's executive agencies, the total number of staff employed, broken down by (i) gender, (ii) ethnic group, (iii) registered disabled and (iv) age group. [166397]
Richard Caborn: The Department and Royal Parks Agency collect data on ethnicity and disability on the basis of voluntary self-declaration. The tables provide data by grade broken down by (i) gender, (ii) ethnic group, (iii) disability and (iv) age group. The Department and Agency Codes of Practice on equal opportunities monitoring do not allow disclosure of data where numbers in any group are fewer than five; where this is the case data have been aggregated to maintain confidentiality.
| Ethnicity | Disability | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total staff in Grade | Female | Non-White | Not Declared | Disability Declared | Not Declared | |
| AA/AO | 104 | 67 | 21 | 13 | 6 | 11 |
| EO | 119 | 64 | 18 | 8 | * | 14 |
| HEO/SEO | 152 | 69 | 12 | 22 | * | 24 |
| Grade 7 | 90 | 35 | * | 8 | * | 14 |
| SCS | 25 | 6 | * | * | 0 | * |
* Fewer Than 5
| <25 | 25-29 | 30-34 | 35-39 | 40-44 | 45-49 | 50-54 | 55+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA/AO | 29 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
| EO | 7 | 32 | 23 | 20 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 7 |
| HEO/SEO | 2 | 27 | 22 | 40 | 31 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
| Grade 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 23 | 14 | 12 | 12 |
| SCS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 3 |
* Fewer Than 5
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| Age Breakdown | <25 | 25-29 | 30-34 | 35-39 | 40-44 | 45-49 | 50-54 | 55+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA/AO | 8 | 13 | 22 | 29 | 30 | 20 | 11 | 12 |
| EO | 1 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 7 |
| HEO/SEO | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 5 |
| Grade 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| SCS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
DEFENCE
Electronic Payments
Mr. White: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress his Department has made to manage the changeover from the Bank Automated Clearing System to the new BACSTEL-IP system for electronic payments. [164317]
Ivor Caplin: Action to manage the changeover to the new BACSTEL-IP system is being co-ordinated in the Ministry of Defence by the Defence Communications Services Agency, supported by the Departmental Corporate Banking and Fund Manager and by Lloyds TSB, the sponsoring bank for BACS within the Department. Initial work to gather information has been conducted, and a plan prepared to enable migration well ahead of the discontinuation of the existing BACS system.
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what alternative methods of payment he is proposing for people who currently receive a war pension by order book, girocheque or payable order but will be unable to transfer to direct payment. [165214]
(2) who will be eligible to receive their war pension by methods other than direct payment. [165215]
Ivor Caplin: The Veterans Agency (VA) has always accepted that for a very limited number of customers, those most vulnerable and genuinely unable to manage Direct Payment, this method of payment may not be practical or suitable for their needs.
For those customers the VA will provide an alternative method of payment that will take the form of a weekly cheque. This will be sent to the pensioner's home by first class post and they will be able to cash it at any post office.
Departmental Personnel (Vale of York)
Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) service and (b) departmental civilian personnel are based in the Vale of York. [165095]
Ivor Caplin:
Location data for Service personnel are not available by Parliamentary Constituency. However they are available by Local Authority Area. The Parliamentary Constituency of the Vale of York
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contains part of the Unitary Authority of York, and parts of the local authorities of Hambleton and Harrogate. The total number of Service personnel in these areas as at 1 July 2002 (the most recently available data) is given in the following table:
| UA/LA | All Services | Naval Service | Army | RAF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| York | 680 | – | 680 | – |
| Hambleton | 2,130 | 10 | 700 | 1,420 |
| Harrogate | 2,610 | 60 | 2,530 | 10 |
Note:
1. – denotes zero,
2. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Due to rounding methods used totals may not always equal the sum of the parts.
3. Figures are for UK Regular Forces, both Trained and Untrained, and exclude Gurkhas, Full-Time Reserve Service personnel, the Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment and mobilised Reservists.
The number of civilian personnel working for the Ministry of Defence as at 1 January 2004 in Yorkshire and The Humber was 3,140 (rounded to the nearest 10).
This includes permanent, full-time equivalent staff, non-industrial and industrial, including Trading Funds and excludes those on career breaks, long-term sick leave, secondment etc. Reliable data is not available below Government Office Region level.
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