Local Television Stations

Debate between Lord Brennan of Canton and Madeleine Moon

Tuesday 25th February 2014 Westminster Hall

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

I associate myself with the points being made by my hon. Friend and wish to add to them. One of the problems for local television is the marketing of a new and important service. Some of the first 10 channels in Wales—such as ITV2 at channel 6 on Freeview, BBC3 at channel 7 or ITV3 at channel 10—have lots of opportunities for cross-marketing, such as by ITV1 or other ITV services, whereas local television does not have such opportunities. That is why it is crucial for local television not to have to spend lots of money on marketing because it is on an obscure channel lower down on the dial.

[Mrs Moon]

My hon. Friend made a point that I intend to come on to, but one that I hope the Minister is listening to, because this matters a great deal to us in Wales.

Wales has experienced a double injustice. Services in Scotland will also suffer from being placed on channel 26, but they will join England and Northern Ireland on Sky channel 117, while Wales has been given channel 134. That is a double reduction in prominence for Wales compared with the other nations. Will the Minister explain why? Why is Wales being singled out in that way?

The reduction in viewers will severely harm the income that local television services will receive and use to make and develop programmes, taking up the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan). Made Television will be forced to allocate more of its resources to market its position on channel 26, because that is so low down the list, and that will result in reduced programme output and employment opportunities—the absolute opposite of what the Minister was trying to achieve and which we in Wales were desperate to be provided.

The responsibility for channel allocation on Freeview lies with Ofcom. Clearly, it does not have the powers to force any type of change to the position that Made in Cardiff will be placed in on Freeview. The Minister has previously spoken of his desire to update the regulations. Is he consulting with Ofcom and will he grant it the necessary powers?

The previous debate in Westminster Hall left us with a guarantee that the Minister would go away and keep us updated on a consultation to grant Ofcom those powers. He expected the consultation to take about three months, but he gave no indication of when it was likely to begin. Since then, while he has been working on the issue, has a date been set? If not, will he explain why we are still waiting for a consultation to begin?

The Made in Cardiff channel launches this summer. Unless a consultation is about to start in the next few days, no decision will be made in time for the company to do the marketing necessary before the launch of its new channel. The argument is not esoteric, but about basic business, and it could demonstrate a greater chance of success for Made in Cardiff. It is important for the Minister to address the matter as soon as possible.

This is the second Westminster Hall debate on local television in two months. The channel in Cardiff, and the one in Glasgow to which the previous debate referred, launch in the summer. How can we allow that launch to take place with the channels at a lower level on the electronic programme guide than in England and Northern Ireland? Why are the two devolved Administrations in Wales and Scotland being dealt with in a totally different manner?

Prominence on the EPG has been used to ensure that local services in England and Northern Ireland will be given the spot that they deserve, without detriment to Channel 4. The Minister also places a lot of importance on the prominence of public service broadcasters. Can we therefore agree today that action will be taken to ensure that Wales does not get a worse deal than the rest of the UK? Any consultation needed by the Minister in order to make changes to the regulations affecting Ofcom, so that it can address greater prominence for Made in Cardiff, should begin, so that the three-month period indentified for the consultation can be completed and a decision made before the marketing for Made in Cardiff starts.

I hope that the Minister understands that for us in Wales the matter is of grave importance. We have a huge reservoir of talent and we want the opportunities for people, in particular young people, to find work in the creative industries across a wide spectrum of job and skills. I hope that the Minister has some positive news for us today.

Atos Work Capability Assessments

Debate between Lord Brennan of Canton and Madeleine Moon

Thursday 17th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Moon]

It is absolutely clear that the framework of the assessment is unable to clarify realistically whether someone is able to work. The assessment is not valid for the purpose for which it was set up, unless that purpose was deliberately to deny people access to benefits.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

The head of Atos was recruited from Unum in the United States. Is it not disturbing that the lieutenant governor of California has stated that Unum was operating “claims denial factories” for working men’s compensation? Does not that disturb my hon. Friend?

[Mrs Moon]

It disturbs me a great deal. Quite honestly, the lieutenant governor was right to say that, because that is what we have found in this country too.

I want briefly to describe some of the cases that I have been dealing with. I shall start with 53-year-old Mrs E, who was employed as an accounts officer. She was a very able and capable woman. She suffered a vicious sexual attack, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Her health problems caused her difficulties with working, and she was forced to take redundancy. She started claiming employment and support allowance, and attended her Atos assessment. The doctor who saw her is well known to me. I have received many complaints about him. I regularly receive complaints about his rudeness, arrogance and total lack of compassion towards the people whom he is assessing. He made unprofessional remarks to Mrs E, and bluntly told her carer to shut up, saying that he did not want to hear from him.

An official complaint was made, but Mrs E was found fit for work. An appeal judge overturned the decision maker’s decision and she was placed in the support group. Three months later, she faced another Atos medical, and it was decided that she would be fit for work in six months. She was then placed in the work-related activity group. A month later, because of the stress, her mental and physical condition had deteriorated, and medical advisers told her to apply for disability living allowance. DLA was refused because of the original Atos report. When it was pointed out that the report was negative, but had been overturned on appeal, a reconsideration was requested. The DWP insisted that the information from the first Atos assessment was sound and that the only option was to appeal to the first-tier tribunal.

My constituent then faced two tribunals. We should remember that this is a lady with post-traumatic stress disorder. She faced two appeals. The first was for DLA. The decision to award the lower rate for mobility and care was backdated. Since then, another DLA application has raised the mobility and care components to the higher rate. The second appeal tribunal was for the employment and support allowance. She was placed in a support group and her benefit was backdated.

That was not the end of this lady’s trauma. Her mental health had deteriorated to the extent that she attempted to take her own life. Her carer has to remain constantly vigilant. A few months later, she received a letter saying she had been transferred back to the ESA work-related activity group from the support group. Payment for the ESA support component was stopped. Following some investigation, the DWP apologised and said that that was a random “administrative error”, but it affected the lady very badly and her mental state became even more fragile.

Despite that, incredibly, on Christmas eve last year the same “administrative error” occurred. My office was contacted, and I have to say that we were extremely angry. The additional stress was placing this lady in a suicidal position again. The application process started again, and yet again there has been an apology for an “administrative error”. This lady is being hounded by the state: there is no other way of describing it. There is no excuse for this behaviour. This is a company that is not playing fair by this country’s most vulnerable people.