TELEVISION RECEPTION IN WALES

Early day motion 1221, tabled 7 December 2005 by Mark Williams (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 15 members.

That this House welcomes the digital revolution and the increased access to information and choice that digital switchover will bring to 98.5 per cent. of the UK population; notes that Wales will be one of the first to switch off its analogue transmitters in 2009 and is deeply concerned that 1.5 per cent. of the UK population and 36,000 households in Wales have either poor quality television reception or no television reception at all; further notes that lack of access to television signals coincides geographically with low wages in rural and deep rural communities and the most Welsh-speaking areas; urges the Government to use the unique opportunity of digital switchover to secure universal access to television reception, in Wales and further afield; and further calls on the Government to offer a package of support which meets the needs of those earmarked as vulnerable groups in Ofcom's report `Vulnerable Consumers in Switchover — Who Are They And Where Do They Live' before analogue switchoff in Wales.

Signatures by party: Liberal Democrat 7, Conservative 3, Plaid Cymru 3, DUP 1, Labour 1.