§ Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the level of take-up of digital television services has been from 1998 to the most recent date for which figures are available, broken down by region; and what steps have been taken since June 2003 to improve the collection and compilation of regional data. [161914]
£ Funding agency for Film 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 BFI Production 1204,400 2688,300 Arts Council of England (ACE) 224,938,263 British Screen Finance Ltd. 24,000,000 UK Film Council — 129,834,325 124,600,413 131,081,000 127,107370 2205,597 2870,318 21,226,730 21,638,350 Total 29,830,963 30,039,922 25,470731 32,307,730 28,745,720 1GL 2 Eng Notes:
A regional breakdown of ACE lottery awards for film production is not available due to the awards being grouped as national grants. Figures for spend in England does not include the spend for Greater London.
Film funding is non location specific, i.e.an award can be made to production company based in London but the film itself could then be shot (and funding spent) on locations across England and the UK.
574W
§ Estelle MorrisThis information is not available currently. Subscriber figures for the take up of digital television services are not available on a regional basis, as the data is commercially sensitive and therefore confidential to the pay television companies. However the Office for National Statistics hope to be able to produce figures on the level of take up of all digital television services on a regional basis in the future, and I understand Ofcom are compiling some estimates of regional take-up. The Department is currently having discussions on the possibility of commissioning research on the take-up of digital television services by region.