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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 11 November 2005
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Electoral Registration
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the percentage of electoral registration rate for each local authority in the UK is in descending order; and if she will make a statement. [26409]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
The Information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Chris Ruane, dated 11 November 2005:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question concerning the percentage electoral registration rate in each Local Authority area. (26409)
The Office for National Statistics is not able to calculate percentage electoral registration rates: the resident population aged 18 and over is not the same as the number of people eligible to vote. However, the Office for National Statistics does on occasion publish comparisons of the resident population of voting age (aged 18 and over) and the number of people who are registered to vote. These comparisons provide the closest available approximations to the information you requested.
The tables, which will be placed in the House of Commons Library, give comparisons between the number of registered electors and the estimated mid-2004 population for local authorities in the UK. Table 1 shows a comparison against parliamentary electorate and Table 2 against local/European electorate. Please note Table 1 refers to Great Britain only as Northern Ireland are unable to provide Parliamentary electorates for local authority areas. In order to give an estimate of the number of electors at the mid-year point, 30 June 2003, a weighted average is taken of the 1 December 2002 and 1 December 2003 electoral data.
The local/European electorate gives a better comparison than parliamentary electorate to resident population as EU citizens are included and UK citizens resident abroad are excluded from the local/European electorate. However, a number of other difficulties remain when comparing these sources. For example not everyone who is usually resident is entitled to vote (foreign citizens from outside of the EU and Commonwealth, prisoners, etc. are not eligible) and people who have more than one address may register in more than one place. These factors may have a different impact from place to place.
There is inevitably some double counting of the registered electorate (both parliamentary and local/European) as electoral registration officers vary in how quickly they remove people from the registers after they have moved away from an area or after they have died. This is the main reason some areas show apparent rates in excess of one hundred per cent.
Any comparison of these data with figures for previous years should be made carefully as electoral legislation and other changes (such as EU expansion) can change the size of the electorate.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Departmental Sponsorship
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list guidelines she has issued on how her Department interacts with public bodies sponsored by her Department. [22599]
Tessa Jowell: My Department's relationship with each of its executive non-departmental public bodies is set out in a Management Statement and Financial Memorandum. That standing document is complemented by a funding agreement, for each Spending Review period, that explains how the Department and the sponsored body will work together and what will be delivered with public expenditure during the period.
Apart from those key control documents, the Department has issued the following guidance bearing on how it interacts with its sponsored bodies:
Serving on the Boards of DCMS Public Bodies (April 2005)—this sets out, for Board members, the respective roles of the Department and the body's Board and executive;
Guidance on Key Appointments Stages for making a Public Appointment (June 2004)—this explains the division of responsibilities between Department and sponsored body during the process of making Board appointments.
Digital Switchover
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the progress towards digital switchover. [25943]
Tessa Jowell: Good progress continues to be made. The Government has confirmed the regional timetable for the switchover to digital television and announced support schemes to help the most vulnerable households to make the switch.
Digital UK, an independent, not-for-profit company set up by the broadcasters, commercial multiplex operators and involving the supply chain digital switchover has been launched to co-ordinate the implementation of digital switchover and ensure that consumers have timely and accurate information about switchover.
Intellectual Property Forum
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the remit of the Intellectual Property Forum project announced by the Minister for Creative Industries on 16 June includes consideration of the extension of the term for sound copyright. [21579]
Alan Johnson: I have been asked to reply.
The remit of the intellectual property forum project does not include consideration of the extension of the term for sound copyright. This will be considered separately, and how it will be done will be announced shortly.
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Olympic Games
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment has been made of the impact of financing the Olympic Games on the amount of lottery money available for sports other than Olympic sports in the years to 2012. [25025]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 7 November 2005]: We have allowed for up to £1.5 billion to be raised from the lottery, some of which will be raised by new lottery games solely for this purpose. We expect the non-Olympic good causes to receive up to 5 per cent. less in income, as a result of sales diversion, over the eight-year period from 2005 to 2013. In addition, up to £410 million will be redirected from the proceeds of non-Olympic lottery games after 2009.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what costs will be met of those businesses relocating from the Marshgate Lane area to make way for Olympic development; and what criteria will be applied to determine reasonable costs. [25651]
Tessa Jowell: The businesses or parties with an interest in the land to be acquired under a confirmed Compulsory Purchase Order are compensated under the statutory Compensation Code.
They receive the market value of their premises or other land interests. In addition they are entitled to a disturbance payment for either the business' relocation or extinguishment and the reasonable costs of their legal advisors and surveyors. A statutory loss payment can be made to commercial and residential owners/occupiers based on a percentage of market value of their property or interests.
Each party with a compensateable interest is entitled to appoint a chartered surveyor to negotiate the compensation on their behalf with the acquiring authority.
Disputes as to the level of compensation payable are referred to the Lands Tribunal.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of the operating profit from the 2012 Olympic Games will go to the British Paralympic Association. [25655]
Tessa Jowell: In accordance with the Host City Contract, any surplus from the 2012 Olympic Games will be divided between the National Olympic Committee (20 per cent.), the International Olympic Committee (20 per cent.), and will be used for the general benefit of sport in the host country as may be determined by the Organising Committee for the Games in consultation with the NOC (60 per cent.). This could include funding for disability or Paralympic sport.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans the Government has for public transport in London to accommodate the increased number of passengers during the London Olympics in 2012. [25866]
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Tessa Jowell: The Olympic Park will be extremely well connected, and will be served by 10 railway lines which will collectively carry up to 240,000 passengers an hour into and out of the Olympic Park. During the games, one train every 15 seconds, or 240 trains an hour, will serve the Olympic Park.
Beyond this, there will be significant investment in London's transport infrastructure in the lead up to 2012. This investment will bring improvements to London's roads, buses, rail and underground networks, giving added resilience and reliability to the system. Planned improvements include the new £5.2 billion Channel Tunnel Rail Link between St. Pancras and Stratford which will open in 2007 and will take passengers into the heart of the Olympic zone in under seven minutes, and over £1 billion a year until 2010 invested in the tube resulting in real improvements—including a 45 per cent. increase in Jubilee line capacity.
Also it should be noted that the games will be held at a time when many Londoners take their summer holidays and use of public transport drops significantly as a result.
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