Digital Switchover (Disclosure of Information) Bill

I am pleased that I raised that point because it has given the Minister the opportunity to thank another group of people—Department of Health officials—for their hard work. We can put on record our thanks to them for working so diligently on the issue between Second Reading, and Report and Third Reading. I join the Minister in extending my congratulations to them. Finally, I want to address the issue of cost, which was raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Poole (Mr. Syms) in Committee and addressed by the Minister when he moved the amendments. It is perfectly predictable that we on the Conservative Benches, who are used to careful stewardship of the public finances, both at local authority and national level, should spontaneously want to raise the issue of cost. Although we support the amendment and think that it is important that the BBC and the vehicle that it creates for digital switchover are able to request access to local authority records, we understand that that will come at a cost. The Minister indicated that the cost would be a few hundred pounds per local authority. Given the consensual style of the debate, I do not wish to appear churlish, but it is a source of immense frustration to Opposition Members that the estimate of £600 million for the whole of switchover has been given to us with no workings. We were told of the estimate, but the Minister did not give us any details about how he arrived at that estimate. It would help if he set out in a few sentences the practical, physical work that a local authority would undertake in order to comply with the provision. I have indicated that we do not intend to resist the amendment—partly on the basis of a great deal of trust.