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The Minister for Sport and Tourism (Mr. Richard Caborn): First, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth (Rosemary McKenna) on securing the debate and on presenting to the House her case for the visually impaired. She has spoken with a great deal of feeling and passion. I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss such an important issue.
Radio is and will remain a vital medium for the blind and partially sighted community. I am particularly pleased to hear of the continued success of radio services specifically designed for the blind and partially sighted. As my hon. Friend powerfully explained tonight, they provide an important contribution to the lives of the people that they serve.
VIP On Air is one such service. It is a web-based radio located in Glasgow, but available to everyone with an internet-linked computer. It is, as I understand it, Europe's first radio station for the blind and partially sighted, and I hope that it will not be the last. Programmes such as "Between the Sheets" and "Telly Guide" give listeners access to the daily newspapers and TV listings, which are current and easily accessible. "Between the Sheets", for example, features "straight read" newspaper articles, which gives blind and partially sighted people direct access to the newspaper media. That can provide accessibility to a range of information that many of us take for granted.
I congratulate VIP On Air on reaching its first birthday in November last year and on the way in which it recruits its staff. I also thank Glasgow council for the support that it has given to the station and for the service that it provides to the Glasgow population. VIP On Air has not only contributed to its listeners' lives through radio, but has provided training, education and employment opportunities for the blind and partially sighted community. Those achievements have all been accomplished as an internet radio service. It is a rapidly growing platform, but it suffers the drawback of being less portable than traditional radios.
I fully understand the desire of VIP On Air to look to the future and to seek ways in which it can communicate more effectively and easily with its audience—an audience with the potential to exceed, I am led to believe, 2 million listeners. I am also aware that VIP On Air would, above all, like to be able to provide a national service for its listeners.
The problem is spectrum availability: analogue spectrum for radio is very limited, particularly at a national level. There are only eight national radio services in the UK—five held by the BBC and the remaining three by the commercial sector. There is simply not enough spectrum for another national service.
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So what are the alternatives? There is no reason in principle why VIP On Air should not hold a local licence, but there are a number of features that inevitably make that difficult. As with national services, spectrum at a local level is limited. In awarding licences, Ofcom must have regard for its statutory duties. For example, it must consider the extent to which a proposed service caters for the tastes and interests of people in the area.
Ofcom also has to consider the ability of the service to be maintained throughout the licence period. It is not clear that a station aimed at blind and visually impaired listeners would easily satisfy those criteria, but that is a matter for Ofcom. It is always possible to buy a station from an existing licence holder, although format constraints may apply. Primarily, however, those are commercial matters between the parties concerned.
In July 2004, the community radio order came into force, creating a third tier of radio in the UK. Those are generally very local, not-for-profit stations. They are required to show that they are for the good of members of the public or of particular communities, and that they will deliver social gain.
It is relevant to this discussion that the community radio order defines community not in just geographical terms, but as communities of shared interests or characteristics. The aims of VIP On Air appear to be consistent with the thinking behind those aims. Indeed, it has submitted an application for a community radio licence for the Glasgow region, which Ofcom is considering. I hope that the House will appreciate that it would not be appropriate for me to comment on that, as it is clearly a matter for Ofcom, but I want to address the concerns that VIP On Air and my hon. Friend have raised about the further growth of community radio.
The community radio order sets clear restrictions on ownership of licences. It prevents one person, or anyone connected to another station, from holding more than one licence. That could be something of an impediment as, under those terms, VIP On Air would be permitted to hold only a single licence for a specific area.
The restrictions were put in place after wide consultation with the radio industry. They were generally welcomed, as they were recognised as a way of protecting the localness of the services, and of ensuring that they have roots in the communities that they serve. There are, of course, no restrictions on other organisations holding licences to provide services for blind and partially sighted people, but they would have to be separate from one another. There is also nothing to prevent VIP On Air from providing programmes for other community radio stations.
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My hon. Friend asked whether that could be reviewed, and Ofcom has been asked to conduct a review of the community radio sector two years after the first community station is licensed. If that review concludes that the restrictions are unnecessary or too burdensome, a further order for Parliament's approval could be brought forward that would remove or modify them. The review may provide an opportunity for my hon. Friend and VIP On Air to make representations.
As my hon. Friend said, digital radio has developed consistently over the past two years and many see it as the real future of radio in the UK. By the end of 2004, more than 1.27 million sets had been sold in the UK and that figure is set to rise. It is calculated that by 2008 about 30 per cent. of households will have digital radios.
Digital radio is broadcast using multiplexes, which bundle together a number of services. Typically, there are between seven and 10 services on a single frequency. That allows a more effective use of spectrum, and it has already made possible an increase in the number of services available. There are currently 18 national services available on digital: 10 are offered by the BBC and eight are run by the commercial sector. In total, digital radio offers more than 210 stations at both national and regional level. It is still a growing technology, and may represent too great an expense for VIP On Air. However, if the digital market continues to grow, it could represent a more credible model than its analogue alternatives.
The technological developments are not just offering new opportunities for broadcasters. DAB digital radio has brought with it a new breed of radios. One such radio set, launched just last month by Pure Digital, offers a unique voice feedback technology, which vocalises the station selected, the time and any alarm settings. In other words, each time the user turns the dial, the radio will tell them the station they have selected. Those are potentially useful features to a blind or partially sighted listener. My hon. Friend said that she has seen that new product, and I would welcome any comments she may have.
Digital radios are still more expensive than analogue radios, with the aforementioned set costing around £120. The cost of digital receivers is nevertheless falling, with sets now available for less than £50.
I again congratulate my hon. Friend on raising this important issue this evening, and VIP On Air on its success over the past year. I hope that that continues for many years to come.
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