Digital Switchover (Disclosure of Information) Bill

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. Councils and local authorities have a vital role to play. A teamwork approach is needed to try to ensure that all the socially isolated and vulnerable groups are identified. Once the Bill is passed, local authorities will be very interested in getting involved in that scheme. I am concerned that using the pension credit as a gateway to assistance might involve some sort of means-testing. I know that the commitment is for all over-75s to receive assistance, but some of them might not receive full assistance; they might just receive a contribution. I agree with Help the Aged that it is absurd to means-test for a set-top box. I hope that that is considered again. Outwith the groups included in the Bill, I am most concerned about families on low incomes, and particularly those who rely on television services perhaps much more than other sectors of the community. Although I accept the data suggesting that there is not much disparity in uptake of digital television between low and high-income groups, that conceals the difficulties and financial hardships faced by many low-income groups in making the journey towards digital. Given the licence fee and the demands of an almost permanent revolution in technology and availability, television is not a cheap option for families. Even the technical innovations of the past 10 years, from stereo to surround sound, from widescreen to flat screen to digital television, and from video recorders to DVDs and recordable DVDs, make it almost impossible for families on low incomes to keep up. The cost of digital switchover on top of that places an excessive burden on some low-income groups. We have heard that the transfer to digital will cost anything from £50 to £500. For a family on low income, however, I would suggest that the cost will be closer to the higher figure. Such a family will not only have one set to transfer; they will have other sets in the house, and video recorders. That will be a significant cost for families on low incomes. I hope that the Government scheme will ensure that families on low incomes receive all the practical assistance available. I have spent, as most Members have, quite a lot of time working with pensioners’ organisations trying to convince them that digital switchover is not a challenge and nothing to be anxious or unduly concerned about, and that they will receive a better service once they secure digital. That is difficult, however, when the largest community in my constituency—the people who live in the city of Perth—have no access to freeview, which they will not be able to secure until our analogue transmitter is turned off in 2010. That leads to great concern that some vulnerable groups who will not be able to use and acquire such new technologies before 2010 will have no opportunity to test that equipment prior to switchover. The city of Perth is one of the largest communities in the UK that cannot secure freeview. As I said in an intervention on the Secretary of State, freeview availability is very much a postcode lottery. The transmitter that serves the city of Perth just happens to have the wrong sets of numbers and letters. It really scunners the majority of my constituents—about 40,000 who live in Perth—that they cannot receive freeview. People in Perth are therefore bemused at public information campaigns encouraging them to be aware of all the different platforms allowing them to access the digital future. I know that other mediums are available for those who cannot get freeview, but those are the expensive or difficult-to-obtain options. Freeview provides the cheapest and most convenient way to secure digital television technology, particularly for those families on low incomes. Braving the Christmas shoppers this weekend, I visited one of the largest electrical retailers in Perth, and there they were in their titanium glory: freeview boxes, which are more or less completely and utterly useless to those who live in the city until digital switchover in 2010. There was nothing on those boxes to say that they were of no use or value to my constituents, and no further information was given about what they should do to try to secure digital television through other platforms. Those boxes were next to all the televisions that will be redundant in three years’ time in my constituency. I entirely take the points made by the hon. Member for Glasgow, North-West and other Members that retail operatives need much more training about communicating and discussing these matters with many of our constituents. The spatchcock availability of freeview is the Achilles heel in the preparation for digital switchover. The fact that about 30 per cent. of households cannot access freeview provides the biggest single challenge to ensuring that digital switchover is a success. Freeview is of vital importance in the preparation for digital switchover. As we approach the start of the turning off of the analogue system, two types of constituencies will emerge in the next few years: those constituencies that have availability of all platforms to secure digital switchover; and constituencies such as mine that will not have all those platforms, and that will face much more of a struggle and challenge in ensuring that digital switchover is a success. Solely out of constituency interest, may I ask the Minister whether all other platforms will be considered in ensuring that vulnerable groups secure digital technology? What more could be done to help those vulnerable groups? If there are to be subscription services, how will the cost be met? Those quibbles aside, I welcome the Bill and congratulate the Government. I for one will do all I can, as a constituency Member, to ensure that vulnerable groups take up the offer and that digital switchover is a success in my constituency.