Meeting of the Parliament 16 June 2011
I thank the minister for her good wishes. I hope that she will not mind my saying that it is good to see culture back at the Cabinet table. It has languished a little in the past number of years.
I am pleased to open this debate on broadcasting and the digital network for Scottish Labour. As the minister said, our dialogue and debate are timely given that much of Scotland is moving over from analogue to digital. I am sure that I am not the only one in the chamber this afternoon who has unexpectedly lost channels along the way. So far, I have managed to retrieve them, and I hope that that is the case for everyone else, too.
Technology is moving quickly. The opportunities before us are many, and it is right that we reflect on them at the beginning of this parliamentary session. Speaking as someone who is old enough—just, I hasten to add—to remember the advent of BBC 2 and a time when the top prize in a game show could be the much-sought-after colour television, I find that it is sometimes hard to keep up with the changes that are happening and with the technology that we now use.
I suspect that in the near future—in fact, it may already have happened—the television in the corner of the sitting room will become a thing of the past. Of course, it is already possible to watch television on one’s MP3 player or phone, and broadcasters will be quick to try to capture the market in personalised television, in which people can choose to watch what they want, when they want, on the device of their choosing.
As I have said, we are almost there now with the advent of the BBC iPlayer and its equivalent on other channels, but it is not just television that is affected—radio is, too. One advantage of a digital network is that it can work across the various platforms that exist. It is important that we do not become too fixated with television, important though it is.
In its report, the Scottish digital network panel quoted Scottish Enterprise, which stated in 2009 that the introduction of the Scottish digital network, combined with the envisaged increase in network production in Scotland, could result in a doubling in the number of people who work in the sector in Scotland. That would, of course, be a very welcome achievement.
We must use the skills that already exist, but it is also vital that we train people in new skills and new technologies. Scottish Labour’s amendment seeks to highlight that necessary part of the discussion. Indeed, the digital network panel itself recognised that there was a skills gap and shortage in the sector.
My colleague David Stewart will talk in more detail about broadband, but we all know that good, reliable broadband access is vital to encourage economic growth and to improve digital inclusion across the country. The work done by Highlands and Islands Enterprise in securing £10 million from the UK Government to improve the broadband infrastructure and its speed is worthy of note, and I know that the Government supports the idea of other local communities and local authorities applying for some of the money that the UK Government has available. However, I wonder whether the minister could outline what shape she believes that Scottish Government support should take. Similarly, could she provide the salient points and timeline that will ensure that the Scottish Government’s target of everyone having access to superfast broadband by 2020 will be achieved?