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19 Feb 2008 : Column 624W—continued
Digital Broadcasting: Television
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2008, Official Report, column 775W, on digital broadcasting: television, when he expects a decision to be taken on the proposal to establish a rolling television channel to provide information on the digital switchover. [187083]
Andy Burnham: There are currently no plans to establish a rolling television service for digital switchover.
Digital Switchover Help Scheme
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what his latest estimate is of the number of people who are (a) eligible for the digital switchover targeted assistance scheme and (b) expected to apply for the scheme, broken down by constituency; and whether those figures were calculated before access was granted to records held by the Department of Work and Pensions; [184479]
(2) what his latest estimate is of the number of people who are eligible for the digital switchover targeted assistance scheme who will receive help (a) for free and (b) on payment of a £40 charge, broken down by constituency. [184480]
Andy Burnham: The information is not available in the form requested. A table giving details of the number of households eligible to receive assistance from the Digital Switchover Help Scheme, broken down by parliamentary constituency, has been deposited in the House Libraries.
The previous estimates have now been updated to reflect benefits statistics as of May 2007 and revised forecasts of benefit growth provided by DWP. The DWP benefits statistics used to produce these and previous estimates are publicly accessible through either the National Statistics Nomis portal or the DWP National Statistics tabulation tool.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his Department's latest estimate is of the number of people in each region who will require assistance through the Targeted Assistance Scheme during digital switchover. [185636]
Andy Burnham: Details of the number of households eligible to receive assistance from the Digital Switchover Help Scheme broken down by ITV region are in the table. The table also shows current estimates of projected take up for each ITV region.
| ITV region | Number of eligible households | Projected to take up assistance |
| 1. The estimate of the number of households eligible for assistance from the Digital Switchover Help Scheme covers ITV regions covering England, Wales and Scotland. Information on Northern Ireland constituencies is held separately by the Department of Social Development. Revised estimates for Northern Ireland will be made available as soon as possible. 2. The figures do not include those living in the Copeland constituency who were outside the switchover area for the recent Copeland switchover or residents of the Isle of Man. 3. The figures do not include households where the person qualifying for help under the scheme is registered blind or registered partially sighted who qualify on grounds of registration rather than on grounds of age or entitlement to disability benefits. 4. Eligibility for help from the Digital Switchover Help Scheme will be by benefit unit rather than the whole household definition used by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Office to forecast future household growth. The scheme definition of eligible households mirrors Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) definition of a benefit unit: a couple (which from December 2005 includes gay couples) and any dependent children. It excludes adults deemed to be non-dependents who, if eligible, will be able to claim assistance from the help scheme in their own right. 5. These revised estimates use data from the Department for Work and Pensions Client Group Analysis for May 2007 adjusted by changes in future household and benefits growth for the period from May 2007 until the date switchover takes place in the relevant area. 6. Totals for ITV regions are rounded to the nearest 1,000. Totals for Great Britain are rounded to the nearest 10,000. Totals may not sum due to rounding. | ||
Licensing: Circuses
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on the progress of his Department's review of the impact of the Licensing Act 2003 on travelling circuses. [183112]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
Our assessment of the impact on circuses during the first year of the Licensing Act 2003
has confirmed that circuses were able to operate under the new legislation, but faced new burdens in doing so. We have therefore included a commitment to look at options for reducing the burden for travelling entertainment and mobile forms of licensable activity as part of the DCMS Simplification Plan which was published in December 2007. We will consider how to address some of the specific issues identified in our survey of circuses when progressing simplification projects such as minor variations and adjustments to the application process.
Olympic Games 2012
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his Department’s definition is of a sport; and whether each event planned for the Olympic Games 2012 meets this definition. [186189]
Andy Burnham: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) does not have a standard definition of a sport. However, a commonly used definition appears in the Council of Europe European Sports Charter 1993:
“Sport means all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well-being forming social relationships or obtaining results in competition at all levels.”
The Home Country Sports Councils, for example, take account of the above definition, alongside other considerations, when making determinations about the recognition of an activity as a sport.
The Government are confident that each event planned for the 2012 Games will meet this definition.
The Council of Europe definition does not limit the scope for Ministers to determine, in the context of sports policy development, which sports or activities DCMS should or should not fund.
A list of sports and recreational activities for the local and national government measurement framework from April 2008 will be largely based on the broad definition of sport currently used for the Comprehensive Performance Assessment framework. The definition of sport will be based principally on the notion of moderate intensity, where some degree of physical demand is placed on the participant.
Sport England’s forthcoming strategy on delivering a world leading community sport infrastructure will detail those sports which will fall under its remit to fund.
Sports: Sponsorship
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make it his policy to regulate sponsorship of UK sport. [186957]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
I have no plans to regulate the sponsorship of sport in the UK. However the Government have taken a number of steps to encourage sponsorship of sport that is socially responsible, particularly when aimed at children and young people. For example, the Government have
supported moves by the Portman Group to place a voluntary ban on alcohol advertising on children’s replica football shirts.
Furthermore, we have supported similar voluntary arrangements between the gambling industry and sport to remove gambling sponsorship from children’s replica kit.
Finally as my hon. Friend will be aware, the EU ban on tobacco advertising for Formula One motor racing remains in place.
Communities and Local Government
Departmental Publications
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what public information booklets were published by her Department in 2007; and what the (a) print run and (b) cost to the Department was in each case. [185796]
Mr. Dhanda: This information is not held in the form requested and could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost. Details of departmental publications are published online at:
Disabled: Access
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions her Department has had with local authorities on access arrangements for those with temporary disabilities. [182556]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I have been asked to reply.
The Department for Transport has regular discussions with local authorities on a range of issues around access to transport for disabled people, including on taxis and access to train stations. These issues will often be equally relevant to people with temporary disabilities. We are also currently consulting on proposals to extend the Blue Badge scheme to people with temporary disabilities that severely impact on their mobility (for example, people with very severe Autism and Alzheimer's and people who are expected to recover following treatment for a stroke or multiple fracture).
Domestic Visits: Regional Ministers
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many official visits regional Ministers have made to the region for which they are responsible, broken down by county. [184395]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 4 February 2008]: Regional Ministers have made a number of official visits to the counties in their regions since their appointment in July 2007. The following tables summarise those meetings made in their capacity as Regional Minister.
| The Minister for the South West | |
| Break down by county | Number of visits |
| The Minister for the North East | |
| Break down by county | Number of visits |
| The previous Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber | |
| Break down by sub region | Number of visits |
| The Regional Minister for the North West | |
| Break down by county | Number of visits |
| The Minister for the East of England | |
| Break down by county | Number of visits |
| The Minister for the South East | |
| Break down by county | Number of visits |
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