Digital Switchover
The final item of business today is a members' business debate on motion S3M-2759, in the name of Jeremy Purvis, on digital switchover. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament notes that the UK's digital TV switchover commences with the switchover of the Selkirk transmitter on 6 and 20 November 2008 in the Border TV region; believes that digital is a positive development within television but is concerned that the Switchover Help Scheme, established to give practical support to those people expected to have the most difficulty in making the switch to digital TV, has been subject to doubts over its effectiveness, and expresses further concern that, with the Border TV region having the highest percentage of viewers receiving their television signal through relay transmitters, the switchover will create a two-tier service with more than 50% of viewers in the Borders able to access only 50% of digital channels.
I apologise to those members whom I am detaining from the by-election campaign. I suspect that they will be en route once this debate concludes.
The viewing public will experience the biggest changes to broadcasting in a generation shortly after midnight tonight, when the first major stage commences of the full switch of the Selkirk transmitter in my constituency to digital television signals. Some viewers already receive digital television from the transmitter, and Whitehaven in Cumbria has already switched. However, with the switch of Selkirk and its 11 relay transmitters, the south of Scotland will be the first and the biggest region of the United Kingdom to switch.
Since the UK Government decided that the Borders TV area would be the first to be switched over to digital, my Westminster colleague Michael Moore has led the campaign to ensure that viewers in the Borders have received proper information and are involved in the decision-making process. He deserves commendation for his work supporting community activists and representatives, voluntary groups, broadcasting professionals and many others with direct or indirect interests, to ensure that the benefits of digital are exploited for Borders viewers and any disadvantages are militated against.
This week, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport visited the Borders and, during our recent debate on the Scottish Broadcasting Commission, I and other representatives raised with the Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture concerns about the switchover.
At one minute past midnight tonight, the Selkirk transmitter will be switched off and it will remain off until 6.30 am—or earlier—when BBC2 will be broadcast fully on digital. Some of the relay transmitters may configure automatically, but, by 10.30 am tomorrow, all relay transmitters are due to be broadcasting BBC2 in digital format.
All digital boxes will have to be retuned for viewers in the area. People receiving their signals through their digital box will then have to switch between analogue and digital signals for a fortnight, before the second switchover on 20 November. In some regards, that will be a bigger switchover. At one minute past midnight, the Selkirk transmitter will again be switched off. The transmitter and all the relays are due to be broadcasting fully digital signals by 4 pm the following day. Again, all boxes are due to be retuned. It is worth noting that that applies to each box for each television and video recorder. Viewers have had to purchase both boxes, and they will have to be retuned twice.
The two stages of the switchover will make the region the first to be fully broadcasting digital television. Digital UK has been proactive in spreading the message on the need to buy the boxes and on the processes involved as digital switchover starts. However, inevitably, some people will not have received the literature, seen the broadcast captions on their televisions, seen the local advertisements, or seen the poster banners that are displayed across the Borders.
For those who have had difficulty in purchasing and installing proper equipment, a help scheme has been established by the UK Government. The scheme was welcomed warmly; the fact that Sky was the successful bidder was welcomed less warmly. Concerns have also been expressed that the choice of equipment for the scheme, although of high quality, was the most expensive. For elderly people wishing to purchase and install the box, it has worked out considerably more expensive than a box simply bought from a high street retailer.
Constituents have approached me concerning the operation of the scheme, customer service and a lack of flexibility. To be fair, I should say that I have also had constituents commending the scheme. However, a recent report on the scheme showed that take-up was just 65 per cent. It has not been uniformly successful.
Concerns have also been expressed that the design of the scheme could have involved at a much earlier stage the excellent network of community, voluntary and charitable bodies in the Borders that have worked so hard to ensure that the people whom they support are aware of the switchover and are supported through it.
In addition to the people who have had difficulty with the technological changes, there remain people in the Borders—in my constituency and in John Lamont's constituency—who have had real difficulty receiving any terrestrial TV signals at all. I know about that, because I am one of them. In a letter that I received only this morning, a constituent highlights the fact that the difficulty of receiving signals in rural areas is often not taken into consideration by the UK Government. He lives in Innerleithen and his letter concerns the Innerleithen mast. He says:
"My house is amongst the closest to that mast but because the mast is sited on the reverse slope of Caerlee we receive no signal from it. Indeed, because of the local topography, we receive no signal from Peebles or Selkirk either."
That point highlights one of the issues that affect rural areas such as the Borders. Some people may have received a poor signal but will now be able to receive a better digital signal; and most people will be able to receive a better signal through their existing aerial and therefore receive a much better service; but some people will, regrettably, still not be able to receive any terrestrial TV signals.
Viewers who will receive their signals through the Selkirk transmitter will receive the full signal of six mux coverage after switchover. Mux is the abbreviation for multiplex. Viewers receiving signals through relay transmitters will receive three mux coverage—known as "freeview lite". Across the Borders region as a whole, only 51 per cent of households can currently receive digital TV signals through an aerial. After digital switchover, that will go up to 98 per cent, which is positive. However, crucially, of those households only 53 per cent are predicted to receive the full freeview line-up of 48 channels. Elsewhere, only 20 channels will be available. The forecast of 47 per cent—for viewers in my area and in the rest of the Borders TV area who will receive only half of the digital service—is the highest in the United Kingdom. The area closest to our figure is south Wales, which has 70 per cent coverage and therefore 30 per cent lack of coverage. The situation is simply not acceptable to the 47 per cent of viewers who will receive a secondary service. They pay exactly the same licence fee as everyone else.
The UK Government's response—that people should not really complain, as the 20 channels that they will receive are the most popular ones—is glib. It is especially glib in the context of the review of the Office of Communications—Ofcom, the regulator—on public service broadcasting. One of the options that Ofcom is still considering is the provision of public funding for some digital channels—including some smaller digital channels—that could provide public service broadcasting as part of their package. Those may include a Scottish digital channel, which is the favoured option of the Scottish Government. However, one of those channels—or the part of the channel that public money will go to—will not be receivable by half of the viewers in the Borders.
The switchover is exciting. It is the biggest change, and I wish the engineers well in their work in Selkirk tonight—and, indeed, on 20 November. I ask the Scottish Government to do what it can, working with the UK Government, to support Borders viewers who have already been jolted by the loss, in the new year, of full local news coverage—an issue that has been raised several times in the Parliament. I ask the Government to ensure that the breadth and quality of the digital offering that those viewers will receive, as the first viewers, will be the same as in other parts of the UK. They pay the same licence fee and should receive the same digital signal and service. A two-tier service is not acceptable to the Scottish Borders and should not be acceptable to the Scottish Government or the UK Government.
I congratulate Jeremy Purvis on securing this debate on an important subject.
As we have heard, Whitehaven in Cumbria became the first place to go through the process of having its television sets switched to the digital format in 2007. The Border region will be the second place to embrace digital with the switch-off of the Selkirk transmitter, starting tomorrow. The digital revolution will completely replace analogue TV transmission all over the UK by 2012.
It does not bode well that Ofcom's report into the digital switchover shows that an average of 90 per cent of households in the UK will be able to receive 40 channels after the switchover, whereas the figure drops to just 53 per cent of households in the Borders transmission area. As Jeremy Purvis's motion states, the Border TV region has the highest percentage of viewers who receive their TV signal through relay transmitters—I understand that 11 transmitters are involved. As the Border region has the lowest percentage of households that can receive digital TV through an aerial—just 51 per cent—half of Borders viewers will not know whether their preparations for the digital switchover have been successful until the switchover takes place tomorrow and on 20 November. That is unacceptable, and I know that Ofcom is aware of the problems.
My colleague John Lamont will say more about the problem of reception in the Borders area. I will concentrate on the more positive aspects of the digital switchover. Broadcasting is a reserved matter, therefore many of the decisions relating to the new digital communications world will be made at Westminster. I believe that broadcasting should continue to be reserved, but in line with the recommendations of the Scottish Broadcasting Commission I also believe that, in the post-digital era, the Scottish Parliament should be much more involved in deciding what is seen on TV screens here in Scotland and how network funding is allocated and disbursed in Scotland.
There is little doubt that digital is fairer for all viewers. Today, one in four households—especially in the remoter parts of Scotland—cannot get digital television via their aerial, and many still cannot get Channel 5. It is also true that the decision of the BBC trust not to put MG Alba, the new Gaelic digital channel, on freeview has meant that the channel cannot develop its viewership at the pace that it would like. I hope that, long before the complete digital switchover in 2012, that decision will be reversed, especially in view of the new channel's astonishingly encouraging viewing figures.
With the switching off of the analogue broadcasting system, we can boost the digital system and provide a greater choice of affordable digital options. Digital TV is, of course, more efficient because it can carry many more channels than analogue TV, which frees up the spectrum for a whole host of TV, radio and information services. I hope that one of those will be the new Scottish digital channel, which was originally proposed by the Scottish Conservatives in our submission to the Scottish Broadcasting Commission and is now the main plank in the commission's recent recommendations.
A new digital channel would provide a welcome boost for Scottish viewers and the TV production sector north of the border, including the hard-pressed Scottish independents. Although there is debate about the funding methods for the new channel, there is little doubt that large sums will be realised through the sell-off of the digital spectrum. Conservatives believe that the fairest funding method would be a combination of public and private investment, which might include funding for the development of city or regional TV news and current affairs opt-outs around the new channel's core schedule. Such an approach could give us the genuine regionality that ITV can no longer provide, not only in the Borders but elsewhere in Scotland.
One other bonus from the digital switchover that was highlighted in a speech made earlier this week by the Conservative leader is that the BBC was given additional licence fee moneys to cover the change to digital, but it now seems likely that considerable sums will be left over after the switchover. A national debate on the BBC's future is rapidly gaining momentum, but David Cameron has already given notice that, notwithstanding whatever else is decided about broadcasting, a future Conservative Government would look favourably on using digital leftover money to cut the BBC licence fee and kick-start competing media and internet companies, including, one would hope, some in the Borders.
Although there are genuine local concerns about transmission following the digital switchover, the move has many potential advantages that should be welcomed by everyone who is interested in the future of Scottish broadcasting.
I, too, congratulate Jeremy Purvis on securing this very topical and important debate.
Earlier this year, I submitted to the Scottish Broadcasting Commission a survey that covered not only the provision of channels, including Border TV, but digital provision. In that survey, which was sent to 20,000 households and to which I received 7,000 responses, 54 per cent said that they were well informed about the switchover, 37 per cent said that they were not and 9 per cent were undecided. However, I want to draw a distinction between being informed about and being ready for the switchover, particularly where elderly people are concerned.
According to the latest figures, 52,000 households are covered by the Selkirk transmitter and its relays and, at the time of speaking, 10 per cent are still to convert to digital. Given that a high number of elderly people live in the area—indeed, the 2001 census revealed that 24,000 or 30 per cent of the population were pensioners—some very elderly, frail and vulnerable people are going to get lost in the process and will simply not know what is happening. As Jeremy Purvis has quite rightly pointed out, those people will lose their service when the switchover takes place.
Not that many elderly people will go on to the internet, but when I had a look at the Digital UK site I found the following lines:
"If you get a TV signal from a relay transmitter (Freeview) you need to toggle between analogue and digital."
I have no idea what toggling might be. With all the talk on that site about having to change the aerial and so on, very many elderly people who rely on their TV for their main companionship will simply be confused. I am sure that John Lamont will also mention this issue, but I subscribe to the view that certain areas will receive no service whatever.
Being aware is not the same as being ready. Indeed, only two days ago, Consumer Focus Scotland, which is tracking the experiences of more than 100 people in the Scottish Borders, said that viewers are not ready for switchover and highlighted the confusion that still reigns about what exactly is going to happen.
Why is this switchover happening? I am not going to be quite so benevolent towards the British Government, because this move is not purely about expanding choice. There is a clear vested financial interest in the Government's auctioning off of analogue channels in 2009. The money, which is estimated at between £5 billion and £10 billion, will go to the Treasury. Not only that, but the Treasury will also receive the VAT on the equipment that is needed to receive digital channels.
Other countries are switching over to digital, but some, including Holland and France, are not because of the costs. It is simply a mixed blessing, and we must not look at the move as if it is happening out of the goodness of the British Treasury's heart. A lot of money is involved, and I want some of it to go back to the Borders.
Why choose to roll out this switchover in an area that has a difficult topography, that has the lowest average wages in the country—according to last year's figures, the average weekly wage was £355 compared with the Scottish average of £436—and where 30 per cent of the population are elderly? The figures from Ofcom suggest that it will cost the average household in the Borders £132 to switch over two TV sets and a video. Many have not signed up to the help scheme—indeed, according to my figures, only 15 per cent have—and I do not know whether in these very straitened times of high energy bills and perhaps job losses people on very low incomes will be able to cover the cost.
As I have said, the switchover is a mixed blessing, and the huge caveat about it is whether the elderly, the vulnerable, those with impaired sight and others have had the financial help to which they are entitled and practical assistance in dealing with it. I ask the Treasury to put some of the money that it is scooping in from auctioning off the analogue spectrum into providing the Borders with full access to Scottish channels, particularly Scottish Television.
I congratulate Jeremy Purvis on securing probably the most timely debate that we have had in the Parliament, given that the digital switchover is happening tonight.
The advantages of digital switchover are apparent. There will be higher-quality output and wider choice. However, I agree with Christine Grahame to some degree: there are also disadvantages that we need to work through, but they can be worked through. Most other countries are moving to digital—the trend is pretty much unstoppable—but we have the responsibility to challenge Ofcom and others on how smooth the transition will be. It is clear that things will be difficult for those who do not regard themselves as technical and that the transition will be a wee bit more costly than simply finding a SCART input in the back of a television. If there is only one such input, the person will not be able to use their video. The practical issues for people who are making the switch must be worked through with them, and we must ensure that the responsible agencies continue to do that.
The digital switchover will change the face of television as we know it. Some of us have already debated on the Ofcom panel the challenges and opportunities for the broadcasting industry and the issues that we need to work through. I agree with Ted Brocklebank: the Scottish Broadcasting Commission's report, which is excellent, is right to suggest that the Parliament should scrutinise broadcasting issues more. Perhaps it should share responsibility for doing so with Westminster.
For those of us who are interested in the technical side, digital signals can provide very high-quality output, but when a digital signal is lost, it is pretty much lost altogether. There is confusion about what people will get. Digital television is not the same as high-definition television—that is different. We must educate people a wee bit more about the television output that they will get, so that everybody understands the issues in the debate.
Labour has called for a review of what is happening with BBC Alba and freeview. It seems odd that the audience for BBC Alba will be assessed, but that a percentage of the audience cannot see the channel in the first place and will not be counted in the figures. I have lodged a motion on that matter, which I hope members will sign. People who should be able to see the channel should be counted when we are considering whether there would be value for money in ensuring that BBC Alba is available to more people who have an interest in Gaelic.
Jeremy Purvis was right to raise the issue of whether there is scope for other smaller digital channels to plug the gap. Whatever broadcasting changes we make, the channels must be available to all Scots. That will be technically challenging in parts of Scotland, but we must ensure that every Scot benefits from their licence in the same way. That said, I do not underestimate the technical challenges. I also support Jeremy Purvis's suggestion that the Scottish Government and the UK Government should work through the issues, as some of them can be solved by working together.
We have debated before whether Scotland will get its share of the revenue from the old analogue provision. There should be a further debate about what we want to do with it. Should we, for example, fund a new Scottish digital channel? We have supported having such an important debate. We must ensure that the same problems do not arise and instead that all of Scotland is covered.
We are talking about the switchover to digital television, but there have been on-going discussions about digital radio switchover. I have not researched that subject in depth, but I know that there have been timetabling changes for the switchover to digital radio. More technical and problematic issues are involved. People do not understand that if there is a switch to digital radio, they will not be able to use every radio in their house, therefore different consumer and technical issues need to be discussed. We must ensure that we tune into those issues, because being able to use their radios is important to people.
I, too, congratulate Jeremy Purvis on securing this timely debate.
As we have heard, tonight, the Border TV region will make history by becoming the first area in Scotland and the second in the UK to switch from an analogue television signal to a digital one. However, rather than being a proud moment for the region, it could well be one of embarrassment, because reception in the Borders is among the worst in the UK. As Jeremy Purvis said, Ofcom has reported that the Border TV region has the lowest percentage of households that can currently receive digital television through an aerial, with a figure of just 51 per cent. Nearly half of the Borders population will not know whether their preparation for the switchover has been successful until the changeover happens tomorrow. That could create further complications when the switchover occurs, with confusion among the electorate muddling the switchover even more.
The changeover to digital television has been heralded as providing a wide viewing selection, with more than 40 channels available to the audience. One would think that all areas would be able to reap the benefits of such an improvement. However, although Ofcom reports that an average of 90 per cent of households in the UK will be able to receive the 40 channels after switchover, that figure does not hold true for the Borders, where barely more than 50 per cent of the population will be able to receive the 40 channels. The figure is significantly lower than that in the second-worst-served area, Wales, where 73 per cent of households will be able to watch all 40 digital channels. The reason for the discrepancy is that main transmitters, such as the one at Selkirk in the Borders, carry all six multiplexes, whereas relay transmitters, of which there are 11 in the Borders, carry only three multiplexes. That is disappointing for the Borders region and entirely unfair to the residents in my constituency and Mr Purvis's constituency of Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale. Yet again, the Borders is being short-changed.
As well as there being the obvious discrepancy in availability throughout the Borders, many unanswered questions remain about the digital switchover. For example, why can we not have local BBC Radio Selkirk news bulletins via digital audio broadcasting—DAB—radio after the switchover? That is yet another blow to the local news service. Furthermore, what is being done to protect the old bandwidth from being auctioned off to a commercial operator? I hope that Scottish Borders Council will fight for that valuable resource for the Borders—which will give more opportunity for local broadcasting, particularly local news—and will not allow the bandwidth to be sold to a large multinational company with no local interest in the Borders. The confusion from the digital switchover raises many questions that should have been answered long before now. I hope that the uncertainties will be resolved in the coming days and weeks.
As the Borders is one of the first UK areas to move to digital television, we should serve as the leader for the rest of the country. However, the example for the rest of the country will be one of what to avoid and will demonstrate how necessary it is to prepare a whole region properly for such an important change. At a time when the Borders could have been at the forefront of technology for the entire United Kingdom, we find ourselves a rather ill-prepared test case and a lesson for the country in the importance of organisation and preparation before such drastic changes are implemented.
I thank Jeremy Purvis for bringing the debate to Parliament. It is timeous because of the forthcoming by-election and the first part of the switchover in the Borders. As we have heard, the Selkirk transmitter will begin its switchover tomorrow, which is a major step in broadcasting in this country.
Members' speeches have been welcome. There is consensus, so I hope that we will all move forward together to try to get the best possible outcome for people in the Borders and beyond. As has been said and as everyone is aware, digital switchover is reserved to the UK Government, and I understand that the matter was raised with UK ministers by MPs from the Borders and elsewhere in a debate at Westminster on 14 October.
Obviously, the Scottish Government is extremely keen for the switchover to go smoothly in Scotland. I have on a number of occasions met representatives of Digital UK to discuss progress and to press Scotland's case. I met Digital UK representatives on 29 October to establish whether the Selkirk transmitter switchover was progressing according to plan and whether, in its view, people in the Scottish Borders were ready for switchover. The response that I received was positive, and there was discussion about the pilot in Whitehaven in Cumbria. Digital UK's figures show that by August, 88 per cent of main sets in the Borders and 40 per cent of secondary sets were ready for switchover. The figure for main sets is now up at around 90 per cent.
Many areas of the Borders are served by relay transmitters, as we have heard, and the people who are served by them will not get the full service until much later. As has been mentioned here, we will not know until tomorrow the total effect of the switchover scheme, given the number of relay transmitters.
I understand the concerns that have been expressed by everyone. Digital UK has informed me that seven advice points will be operating—in Duns, Galashiels, Eyemouth, Hawick, Peebles, Jedburgh and Kelso. The centres will be open for three days, around both switchover days, and will be staffed by Digital UK and help scheme staff. The Digital UK call centres will be able to provide advice to anyone who cannot make it to an advice point. Scottish Borders Council and local voluntary sector groups will provide crucial support, and I hope that their support is visible. Christine Grahame was quite right to point out that a lot of people who say that they are aware of what is going on do not really understand what has to be done.
That brings me to the help scheme, which Jeremy Purvis mentions in his motion. The scheme was established to give help to those who need it most. The UK Government recently announced that the help scheme will be extended to all people living in care homes who have been, or will be, resident for six months. That change is welcomed by the Scottish Government. It came up at the Local Government and Communities Committee, and Shona Robison, on behalf of the Scottish Government, wrote to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport about the matter to ensure that people who receive free personal care will not miss out on the help scheme. I have been advised that the information pack was sent to everyone who was eligible for it. In the Scottish Borders, that covered 16,000 people. I also understand that reminders were sent out.
Uptake of the help scheme in the Borders, according to the most recent figures that I have, was about 15 per cent. However, the response rate among the eligible people whom I mentioned was much higher: about two thirds responded, either to accept or to say that they did not wish assistance. As Christine Grahame said, the situation might, however, become apparent when the time comes. People can access the help scheme beyond tomorrow. It will be open to eligible people until the switchover in the Border Television region is complete. That will be in July 2009, when the Caldbeck transmitter switches over.
I am very much aware of the concern that rural areas are receiving a poorer service. More people in such areas receive their television signal from a relay transmitter and, as Ted Brocklebank and John Lamont pointed out, some areas in Scotland and Wales suffer because of that.
The plan is for everyone in the Borders to continue to get public service broadcasting services. At this point, I will pick up on something that Jeremy Purvis said about any new Scottish digital channel. The Broadcasting Commission report recommended that that network should be carried, like all other public service broadcasters, on the public service broadcast multiplex. It should therefore be available to all. We should keep pushing for that.
Pauline McNeill and John Lamont brought up the subject of digital radio, and different issues must be discussed in that regard. I recently met DCMS, together with its agent, and the Government will respond to its consultation.
Digital switchover in the Borders is the first such exercise in Scotland following the pilot scheme in Whitehaven. We all hope that it goes well and we will keep our eye on it.
On working with the UK Government, I want everyone to be assured that discussions have been on-going. I will send a copy of the Official Report of the debate to Westminster to show that there is genuine concern to ensure that people are not disadvantaged. It will be useful for Westminster to see the strength of feeling about BBC Alba, for example, which is so important to us all—we really must push to have it on freeview.
Please be assured that, as far as I am concerned, the move forward with digitalisation is a joint initiative and Scotland's case will always be pressed by this Government. Anyone who feels that they can usefully contribute to that should not hesitate to do so. I hope that all Borders representatives will keep us informed of their perspective on how things are progressing with the digital switchover.
Meeting closed at 17:35.