Digital Switchover (Disclosure of Information) Bill

Let me be the second to congratulate my noble friend on having identified an issue to which we intend to pay due attention. I am not in a position to accept his amendment, nor any amendment constructed along these lines. As he will recognise, such an amendment would greatly extend the range of people on whom data would be necessary within the framework of the help scheme. That raises some big questions. But I recognise that he is raising the interests of a significant group of people and I want to give him the most constructive response that I can to the points he made. It is the responsibility of the landlord to upgrade communal TV systems and reception or other reception equipment for which they are responsible. The help scheme will have a responsibility to take all reasonable steps to ensure a continuity of reception at switchover. That is the premise on which we are working. Clearly, my noble friend rightly identified, in somewhat dire terms, the danger of not taking that on board significantly. This will include set-top reception where appropriate or connecting the equipment to an upgraded or working communal TV system. But I accept that in some cases this may not be possible. We need to consider those issues in finalising the scheme agreement to which we alluded earlier. If the system does not convey signals—there might be many reasons why this might be the case—only the landlord can take responsibility, either by taking forward work to do this, or allowing residents to take their own steps. There will be costs associated with any upgrade work needed with implications for service charges, and we encourage landlords to work with residents in determining the best solution. Of course, many responsible landlords have already done so. The recent research by BMRB showed that significant progress was being made in the public sector. As my noble friend indicated, tenants on low income may qualify for housing benefit which will cover any increase in rents or service charges. Housing benefit regulations are being updated so there is no doubt that integrated reception systems that convey terrestrial and satellite signals are covered. In that area, I can give my noble friend all the assurance that he requires. Steps are being taken to protect those least able to meet increased costs from upgraded aerial systems. We and Digital UK will continue to communicate with the housing sector to ensure that people are aware of what they need to do and the consequences if they do not— our particular focus will be on private sector residents and landlords who are likely to be less advanced and who were largely the subject of my noble friend’s concerns. We will also continue to work with the housing sector with more practical support—for example, by making landlords awareof the likely costs, and encouraging them to seek effective procurement solutions or integrate this work with other planned developments on their properties. We will also encourage them to think about their charging policies as far as possible. My noble friend has raised an important area of consideration. I want to give him the reassurance that, as far has housing benefit is concerned, where we are able to act directly, we are taking steps to ensure that appropriate action is taken. He is right. It is in the landlords’ own interests to act in good time. Tenants will also receive information about dates and when things will occur and it is in the interests of the landlord to ensure that he meets tenants’ reasonable expectations in these terms. Landlords may seek to recover the costs of upgrades to communal TV aerial systems from their leaseholders and tenants in the same way as they would for any improvement to the building infrastructure. They will get their capital investment back. Costs arising from these upgrades will certainly be covered by housing benefit and tenants and leaseholders will continue to be protected from over charging from the improvement in the service which the digital switchover represents by the existing range of housing law. The digital switchover programme will provide advice and guidance for landlords, leaseholders and tenants to facilitate cost-effective upgrades to systems. Landlords will want to consider the whole-life costs and benefits of the upgrade options. After all, if a landlord owns property which has not been upgraded several years after the rest of the region has been upgraded, he will have real problems with the rent that he will be able to charge in comparison with a property that has taken account of the upgrade. I reassure my noble friend directly on the issue of housing benefit and we take on board the points that he made about the importance of communal systems, but both landlords and tenants, as far as possible, will be made fully aware of the implications of the switch-off date.