Television and Radio Reception (Thanet and East Kent)

Laura Sandys Excerpts

Wednesday 20th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Laura Sandys (South Thanet) (Con)]

I thank the Minister for very kindly coming to the House to debate something that is not of obvious interest to people beyond myself, my hon. Friend the Member for North Thanet (Mr Gale) and, of course, the Minister himself. Although we aim to be unique in many ways in Thanet and have a huge amount to be proud about, turning on the television and watching the black snow on our analogue TVs or the even more annoying pixel scramble on current digital TVs is not something that we want to excel in.

Our world is often cut short in midstream: just as the first Chilean miner is released from his lair, we have not the popping of Chilean champagne but the crackle of our TVs with moonscape replacing celebrations; the final moment of “The X Factor” is suddenly replaced by the emergence of a screeching pixel reorganisation that makes chalk on a blackboard seem like an appealing noise; and can hon. Members imagine, when waiting for my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) to emerge as Prime Minister in May, the sound from expensive and aggressively marketed digital radio cracking up on them? We in Thanet no longer want to be left at the end of the line or without a signal. We do not want to be left out of the action. We certainly do want to join the real televisual world, but as we are without reliable television, and with digital radio on the blink, we are yet again left out.

I thank all the agencies involved with TV and radio reception—BBC, Ofcom, Arqiva and my hon. Friend the Minister’s Department—for their work to secure better coverage. They have been striving to find solutions to the problem, but the local survey that my hon. Friend the Member for North Thanet (Mr Gale) and I undertook revealed that the problem was more severe than the authorities realised.

Broadstairs was seen as the black hole for TV coverage, and it most certainly is, but bad—really quite bad—coverage is not the exclusive privilege of Broadstairs. The harbour area of Ramsgate has very patchy coverage, and parts of Cliftonville get no coverage at all. North Thanet has its black spots, too, in Westgate and Westbrook. From our rough calculations, about 6,000 households throughout Thanet do not get adequate coverage, while some do not get coverage at all.

Those problems mean that Thanet is probably the largest population area without adequate television and digital radio coverage, and that has a human impact. I know of an older lady who is housebound in Ramsgate, pays good money for her TV licence—she does not yet qualify for her free TV licence—and can get ITV 1 sometimes but nothing else. I have had letters from residents of large retirement blocks that get virtually no coverage at all. Those who can afford it subscribe to Sky, but Thanet is the 64th poorest district in the country, so not everyone has that luxury.

Why should people pay a licence fee for the privilege of getting television if they are then forced to supplement it with additional fees? It raises questions about the legislation governing the licensing of televisions. Is it fair to license a box or a flat screen that is unable to receive anything? Should the licence not relate to whether the box can deliver its function—that of receiving television programming?

We would like to address two key issues: what we can do now to support our residents with better coverage and, possibly more importantly, what will happen following digital switchover. Today, analogue coverage is bad in some areas and poor in many, and digital services are very sporadic, with even Sky users unable to receive good coverage all the time. Digital radio coverage is also limited.

I know that my hon. Friend the Minister’s partners have been working hard on the matter, but I should welcome an update on the findings of the BBC’s reception assessment, which it undertook a few weeks ago after a request from my hon. Friend the Member for North Thanet and myself. It was excellent that the BBC was able to go down and undertake that work. I also understand that Arqiva is in talks with Thanet college about putting up a transmitter, and I should welcome an update on that option. If that is not possible, what other options, such as improving the signal from the Ramsgate repeater station, can be investigated?

Some immediate improvement would be most welcome, but the future digital switchover also concerns us, because the expert information that I have received does not indicate a smooth switchover in 2012. EURIM states that if the broadcasting infrastructure is not in place now, digital will not provide a significantly better service than we have today. The service will be a bit better, but not adequate. Mentor Technology, in its submission to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee report in 2006, stated that those areas with existing marginal terrestrial coverage with poor quality today might not receive any digital picture at all, and this year Digital UK stated:

“The digital television switchover programme will aim to ensure that substantially the same proportion of UK households that currently receive analogue terrestrial TV services will continue to receive public service broadcasting in digital terrestrial form. It will not directly address bringing digital television services to those who have not previously had access to analogue terrestrial services.”

Its website reveals that quite a few parts of my constituency will get only four to eight channels, with poor or no coverage for the rest of the channels. That does not bode well.

So we are calling on the Minister to address our existing and future reception problems. First, is the infrastructure in place to provide us with reasonable analogue reception? Is this about upgrading existing relay masts or adding new ones? In areas where new masts are difficult to install, can the Minister investigate the possibility of connection to the high-speed fibre optic cable running from Broadstairs to Canterbury?

Are we sure that the infrastructure will deliver full digital coverage at the time of switchover? If there are going to be pockets of limited or no coverage, what can the Minister do? Will there be a scheme of free purchase and installation of Freesat? If so, how will that be achieved through the planning process, given that we have several conservation areas? Given our current problems with the reception of Sky, even Freesat does not necessarily guarantee adequate reception.

If we cannot secure reception, what will happen to Thanet? Would anyone move their family to an area that did not receive TV? New essential services would be broadcast—would Thanet need a carrier pigeon system? Would we end up living in a cultural, entertainment and current affairs oblivion? Would my constituents suffer from not being able to see their local MP on regional news?

We need the Minister’s assurances that our situation will be significantly improved after switchover and that Thanet will not be yet again left at the end of the line. If we are not guaranteed proper digital coverage, I will personally ensure that throughout the World cup in 2014, the Minister is forced to join my constituents and me for an evening of popcorn, moonscape and French radio.