Written question asked by Lord Bruce of Bennachie (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 8 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 10 March 2010. It was answered by Ben Bradshaw (Labour) on Thursday, 11 March 2010 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Digital Switchover Help Scheme: Gordon

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many enquiries from households in Gordon constituency have been received by the Digital UK Help Scheme; and how many of those households were eligible to receive the digital conversion service free of charge.

Answer: The Switchover Help Scheme receives eligibility data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and is only able to report statistically at an ITV region level. The provision of help scheme eligibility data at both country and local level is a matter for the DWP. The help scheme estimates around 170,000 people in the STV North TV Region will be eligible to receive help. It is estimated that 37 per cent. of the 170,000 eligible people in the STV North TV Region are entitled to receive the help for free. The numbers of help scheme eligible people and people entitled to receive the help for free in this region are likely to change between now and when the last STV North transmitter switches in October 2010.

Secondary information