MOORE WELCOMES CLEAR TARGET FOR DIGITAL SWITCHOVER

12.00.00am GMT Mon 29th Oct 2007

Borders MP Michael Moore has welcomed the announcement of the date for the region's switchover to digital television on 6 November 2008. The MP, who chairs the 'Borders Digital Forum', said that the target date would help everyone in the Borders to gear up for the biggest change in television in decades. But he has warned that a number of issues will have to be resolved in the next year to avoid people in the Borders being "short changed".

In particular he has drawn attention to the need for adequate support for older people, unfairness about the number of stations that people will enjoy in different parts of the region and the increasing threat to local television services, which could be lost just as the region is promised more choice. Mr Moore said:

"The target dates for switchover in the Borders and for the rest of Scotland make the new digital reality much clearer for everyone. Individuals and the public bodies affected will now be able to plan properly and make sure they are ready on time. But the most vulnerable groups amongst the elderly and those with disabilities will need significant support and there are still concerns about the adequacy of the Government's plans in this area.

People across the Borders, and in time across the whole of rural Scotland, will also face an unfair lottery in the stations they will receive. Every person should be able to receive every channel, not just the cutdown 'Freeview Lite' which is all that will be available to anyone served by a relay transmitter rather than the main masts. This basic unfairness has still not been tackled. And we also have a battle on our hands to preserve the local news and other services provided to the region by Border TV. It would be ironic if, in this so-called age of choice, people in the Borders ended up with a mono-culture of news reporting and a loss of programmes created in our area.

We must not allow the region to be short changed."