Digital Switchover Help Scheme Mr. Waterson To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many and what percentage of people over 65 he estimates will qualify for assistance in switching over to digital television in (a) Eastbourne, (b) East Sussex and (c) England. James Purnell The information is not available in the form requested. A household will qualify for assistance from the Digital Switchover Help Scheme if one person is aged 75 or over, is entitled to disability living allowance or attendance allowance (or equivalent benefits under the industrial injuries or war pensions scheme) or is registered blind or partially sighted. Information on the number of households where the qualifying person is aged between 60 and 75 in Eastbourne, East Sussex and England is in the table. 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|Area |Number of households| 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|Eastbourne |1,100 | 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|East Sussex |7,500 | 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|England |830,000 | 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|Notes: 1. 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. 2. The estimates use data from the Department for Work and Pensions Client Group Analysis for November 2005 adjusted by changes in future household and benefits growth for the period from 2005 until the date switchover takes place in the relevant area. 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. The figures for Eastbourne are for the Eastbourne parliamentary constituency.| | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------