Parliamentary search - Digital Switchover (Disclosure of Information) Bill

Type

Parliamentary proceeding

Reference

456 c23-64

Session

2006-07

Department

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Legislative stage

Third reading and Report stage

Procedure

New clauses

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Digital Switchover (Disclosure of Information) Bill. Explanatory Notes Bill 3-EN also published.
Thursday, 16 November 2006
Bills
House of Commons

Deposited Paper DEP 07/354
Wednesday, 7 February 2007
Deposited papers
House of Commons

Proceeding contributions

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c42 (Link to this contribution) I am slightly surprised by the tenor of the hon. Gentleman’s last remarks. Although the number may b...

Peter Atkinson | 456 c41-2 (Link to this contribution) I come to the House in some ignorance because I was not lucky enough to be selected to serve on the ...

Show all contributions (132)

Shaun Woodward | 456 c42 (Link to this contribution) I thank all Members for their contributions. The hon. Member for Hexham (Mr. Atkinson) raised an imp...

Peter Atkinson | 456 c42 (Link to this contribution) I do not necessarily disagree, but new clause 3 is important because privacy—the issue of divulging ...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c43 (Link to this contribution) As I have said, I am happy to discuss the details of the help scheme outside this specific debate, w...

Nigel Evans | 456 c43 (Link to this contribution) When people become eligible for a free television licence at the age of 75, they must apply for it. ...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c43-5 (Link to this contribution) With respect to the hon. Gentleman, what is pertinent to the Bill is the administration of the targe...

Nigel Evans | 456 c43 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the Minister’s forbearance, but my point does relate to the Bill. If it had been d...

Nigel Evans | 456 c41 (Link to this contribution) I can give some credence to what my hon. Friend says. Some people who used to live in Wales but have...

Robert Syms | 456 c41 (Link to this contribution) Those are people who elect to do it, but there are certainly others who have no choice because of ge...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c46-7 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to respond to the Minister’s remarks. I also commend the contribut...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c46 (Link to this contribution) Somewhere within the hon. Gentleman’s question, he is, I think, making an important point, although ...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c46 (Link to this contribution) Is the Minister saying that, if information comes to light that enables the Government to help impro...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c46 (Link to this contribution) No, that is not what I am telling the House. I am saying that, if we can improve the scheme as we go...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c48 (Link to this contribution) As these things go into the record, I shall have to correct the hon. Gentleman—despite the temptatio...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c47-8 (Link to this contribution) I look forward to it. I hear what the Minister says about wanting to learn from experience, but I th...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c47 (Link to this contribution) It would be a real pleasure to hire a charabanc to take as many hon. Members as wish to come. Howeve...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c45-6 (Link to this contribution) The provision refers to individual information. I am happy to look at the question that the hon. Gen...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c46 (Link to this contribution) As I understood it, the Minister said a moment ago that he did not expect any changes to the scheme....

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c30 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that the Minister did not. As far as I am aware, having reread the Committee proceedings...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c30 (Link to this contribution) To help the hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Miss Kirkbride), does the hon. Gentleman recall that the Min...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c30-1 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. The Minister did say that digital switchover is a time-limit...

Sion Simon | 456 c31 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman and I have known each other many years and have met each other in all kinds of si...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c31 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman accurately tells the House that he and I have been friends for a long time. I hav...

Nigel Evans | 456 c31 (Link to this contribution) Wasted.

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c31-2 (Link to this contribution) I completely agree with my hon. Friend, whom I have also known for many years. As the desk officer i...

Barbara Follett | 456 c32 (Link to this contribution) It will go to join the choir invisible.

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c32 (Link to this contribution) Exactly. The hon. Lady should intervene again.

Paul Robert Holmes | 456 c32 (Link to this contribution) I am not intervening to fill in the rest of the parrot sketch—I bore my children with that far too o...

Paul Robert Holmes | 456 c33 (Link to this contribution) Is not the definition of ““after switchover”” the key point? Is it after six years, 10 years, when t...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c33 (Link to this contribution) As far as I am aware, targeted assistance is available in the regions for nine months—that is, for e...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c33 (Link to this contribution) No, I still support new clause 3. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman can help me, as he and I have both read...

Robert Syms | 456 c33 (Link to this contribution) Of course, if things go wrong in Whitehaven, everyone will hear about it, and the publicity would ri...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c33-4 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that contribution; it also gives me the opportunity to thank him for his ...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c33 (Link to this contribution) That is a perfectly legitimate point, and it could even end up saving the Government money. For exam...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c35 (Link to this contribution) If I were making an attack on the Secretary of State I would instantly withdraw my remark. The new ...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c34 (Link to this contribution) May I begin by apologising, first, to the Liberal Democrat Whips, as I advised them that our deliber...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c35 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is a man of great chivalry, so may I remind him that the new clause was first pro...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c37 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will readily recognise that, for obvious reasons, I cannot give a simple yes or n...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c37 (Link to this contribution) The Minister clearly makes the point that it is not a simple question of whether or not the kit, whe...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c37 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to the hon. Gentleman, but I give way to the Minister first.

Nigel Evans | 456 c35-6 (Link to this contribution) The question is what sort of assistance will be available and who will get it. Disabled people, thos...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c36 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right, but sadly, our ability to discuss such matters is constrained by the ti...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c36 (Link to this contribution) I have resisted the temptation so far to intervene and keep the debate going for longer than necessa...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c36-7 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful and I accept the Minister’s point, but as he knows, there is more than social security...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c37 (Link to this contribution) It should be remembered that the Bill deals with the disclosure of social security information, alth...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c38 (Link to this contribution) In that case, I would be grateful if the Minister made a further intervention on me, if he does not ...

Speaker | 456 c39 (Link to this contribution) Order. We are not discussing the question of training.

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c39-40 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman began his remarks by saying that he had been feeling somewhat left out of the deb...

Speaker | 456 c39 (Link to this contribution) Order. May I gently remind the hon. Gentleman that even though he is replying to a response from ano...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c39 (Link to this contribution) You are absolutely right, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The only point that I was making was that training peo...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c38 (Link to this contribution) Of course I will give way to the hon. Gentleman. I was referring to his more sensible sunset clause ...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c38-9 (Link to this contribution) I simply wanted to detain the hon. Gentleman briefly before he moved on to new clause 4, because of ...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c38 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is extremely generous in his response and I am extremely grateful to him for making it....

Robert Syms | 456 c40 (Link to this contribution) To some extent, I support what the Minister was saying; if a scheme is rolled out over four or five ...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c38 (Link to this contribution) If it is helpful to hon. Members, let me say that we have had to draw up the guidelines based on wha...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c23 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c23-4 (Link to this contribution) New clause 3 stands in my name and new clause 4 stands in my name and those of the hon. Members for ...

Speaker | 456 c23 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss new clause 4—Commencement and duration— ‘(1) Section 1 s...

John Bercow | 456 c24 (Link to this contribution) Presumably, the date of expiry that the new clause provides for would depend on the date on which th...

Nigel Evans | 456 c26 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend knows, I sit on the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport, which looked int...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c26 (Link to this contribution) The Government have set themselves a daunting task. Earlier, the Secretary of State pointed out that...

Justine Greening | 456 c26 (Link to this contribution) I represent a constituency in London, and people often move into and out of that part of the country...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c26 (Link to this contribution) That is a very perceptive question. I can only assume that Digital UK, which is the body charged wit...

Julie Kirkbride | 456 c26 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is giving the House some fascinating detail that I had not quite appreciated before. ...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c25-6 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that contribution. It is important to be as accurate as possible and ...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c25 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman may be a white knight, but he may also be misleading the hon. Member for Hexham (...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c25 (Link to this contribution) That is exactly the point. The details of how switchover will work are contained in a Government doc...

Peter Atkinson | 456 c24-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has an advantage over the rest of us, in that we have not seen the letter from the Mi...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c24 (Link to this contribution) Not really; in fact, a whole host of questions still have to be answered about the cost of digital s...

Julie Kirkbride | 456 c30 (Link to this contribution) For hon. Members who did not serve on the Public Bill Committee, will my hon. Friend let the House k...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c28 (Link to this contribution) I am working within the Government’s scheme, which is the nine-month period and the clearly set-out ...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c28 (Link to this contribution) On that very point and bearing in mind that the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr. Vaizey) is sympathetic ...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c29-30 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend raises a number of important issues. For example, when we move on to consider the ame...

John Bercow | 456 c28-9 (Link to this contribution) This has proved a rather illuminating discussion. Given that any timetable for the provision of fina...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c27 (Link to this contribution) That is the point, and my hon. Friend makes it extremely effectively. There may indeed be issues of ...

Nigel Evans | 456 c27 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving me one more bite. He will be aware that polls show that u...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c28 (Link to this contribution) I fully accept the hon. Gentleman’s point and I hope that I have represented the Minister’s letter c...

John Robertson | 456 c27-8 (Link to this contribution) It seems very much a déjà vu for us to be having this discussion yet again. I have listened to the h...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c27 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention and use this opportunity to commend him and his colleag...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c63 (Link to this contribution) That is exactly the point. It brings together my hon. Friend’s suggestion, praised by the hon. Membe...

Nigel Evans | 456 c63 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that I was suggesting that, although I may do so now that the hon. Gentleman has put t...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c62-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has raised something immensely helpful that I do not think has been suggested bef...

Nigel Evans | 456 c62 (Link to this contribution) ““Lost”” again—the programme gets another mention. In my almost 15 years in this House, I have spok...

Speaker | 456 c62 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is aware that he is wandering away from the subject of this...

Robert Syms | 456 c64 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for that assurance. No doubt the officials will be able to read our exchanges i...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c64 (Link to this contribution) This is exactly the kind of collaboration and co-operation that is so valuable. The hon. Gentleman r...

Robert Syms | 456 c64 (Link to this contribution) The Minister sent out a helpful note setting out estimates of between 4.2 million and 5.2 million se...

Nigel Evans | 456 c63 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I do not need much encouragement to stray, but I shall desist. The M...

Speaker | 456 c63 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman himself is straying away from the Bill and encouraging others to do so.

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c55 (Link to this contribution) Mr. Deputy Speaker, may I make the point that—

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c55 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has rowed out on the issue of costs, and now he is attempting to row back. I do not wan...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c55-6 (Link to this contribution) I hear what you say, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and I have made my point as effectively as I could. I retu...

Speaker | 456 c55 (Link to this contribution) I can only tell the hon. Gentleman that he must deal with the amendments before the House, and if th...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c55 (Link to this contribution) Mr. Deputy Speaker, the amendments allow the BBC to make a request to local authorities. There is a ...

Speaker | 456 c55 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman may refer to the amendments before the House, and that is all.

Nigel Evans | 456 c56 (Link to this contribution) It is important to receive assurances from the Minister about costs, because some people would not h...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c56 (Link to this contribution) That is precisely my point. My comments were made in the spirit of inquiry; they were not an attempt...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c56 (Link to this contribution) In the spirit of helping each other out, I want to make sure that the hon. Gentleman, with his large...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c57 (Link to this contribution) We have had a long discussion about these issues. As I said, someone who is ““certified”” is certifi...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c56-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point. However, I shall not allow myself to be detained any longer...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c58-9 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. The Bill is a small but important measure ...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c60 (Link to this contribution) I am coming to my conclusion. As a democrat, and as someone who came to this House to hold the Gover...

Speaker | 456 c60 (Link to this contribution) Order. Do I take it that the hon. Gentleman is coming to the conclusion of his remarks?

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c60-1 (Link to this contribution) I must begin by referring to the remarks of the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr. Vaizey) about my avuncu...

Nigel Evans | 456 c62 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on Third Reading, as I serve on the Select Committee on C...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c61-2 (Link to this contribution) I am glad. It appears that everything has now come to a conclusion, because we have obtained assuran...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c51 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point, and I am sure that officials will have noted his remarks. As...

Paul Robert Holmes | 456 c51-2 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for his kind words. Obviously, we entirely support amendments Nos. 4, 5 and 6, ...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c49-51 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Chesterfield (Paul Holmes), along with many other Members, raised this important...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c51 (Link to this contribution) The Minister refers to the LGA. This is a small and pedantic point, but I just wonder whether, in th...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c49 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment No. 4, in page 1, line 9, at end insert—

Speaker | 456 c49 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 7, in page 1, line 9, at e...

Speaker | 456 c48 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has referred to the indulgence of the Chair. I hope that I have not been indulgen...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c48 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to you for your guidance, Mr. Deputy Speaker. In conclusion, the Minister has re...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c48 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for confirming that the Secretary of State has changed her mind, altho...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c52-3 (Link to this contribution) I thank the House for the opportunity to speak to these amendments. When the hon. Member for Bath (M...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c54 (Link to this contribution) I must say to my hon. Friend that it is important that we choose carefully the language that we use....

Shaun Woodward | 456 c54 (Link to this contribution) My psychic powers are not working to their full potential today. I remind the House that I made it q...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c54 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has detained me on the Floor of the House on the point of cost. He made the point that ...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c54-5 (Link to this contribution) Let me try to help the hon. Gentleman. The Bill is about the disclosure of information. We have esti...

Tobias Ellwood | 456 c53 (Link to this contribution) A figure of £600 million has been cited. Will my hon. Friend tell those of us who were not members o...

Speaker | 456 c53 (Link to this contribution) Order. We cannot have a debate on the overall financing of the Bill. I am sure that the hon. Member ...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c54 (Link to this contribution) I certainly am, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Although I do not wish to compare myself with the Minister in an...

Nigel Evans | 456 c54 (Link to this contribution) Although we should not get into such a debate, I hope that my hon. Friend thinks that sufficient fun...

Shaun Woodward | 456 c53 (Link to this contribution) I think that, if the hon. Gentleman goes back through the Committee proceedings, he will find that I...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c53 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased that I raised that point because it has given the Minister the opportunity to thank ano...

Nigel Evans | 456 c33 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way, because I know that he is coming to the end of his c...

Lord Foster of Bath | 456 c45 (Link to this contribution) I understood everything that the Minister said, but is he now referring to specific data about indiv...

Speaker | 456 c55 (Link to this contribution) Order. The amendments do not deal with cost in any way.

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c59-60 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for his convivial summing up. I join him in congratulating everyone involved in...

Lord Vaizey of Didcot | 456 c61 (Link to this contribution) I call tell the hon. Gentleman that the discussion went extremely well and I am grateful that I had ...

Subjects

Disclosure of information

Data protection

BBC

Costs

Digital broadcasting

Equipment

Government assistance

Property transfer

Social security benefits

Visual impairment

Television