Holyrood turns on to Scots digital TV network

Plans for a digital television network in Scotland have been outlined in Holyrood.

Culture secretary Fiona Hyslop yesterday told MSPs about the areas in which the Scottish Parliament can have more input over broadcasting, saying that the proposed Scottish Digital Network must be established as a public service broadcaster.

In 2008 the Scottish Broadcasting Commission set out its vision for such a network, speaking of making quality public service content available to everyone, on TV and on the internet.

Ms Hyslop said MSPs should be involved in any arrangements to do with licence fees, the income from which could be used to pay for the network.

She said: "This is a crucial time for digital technology and broadcasting in Scotland: BBC Alba is now available on Freeview and the digital switchover will be completed next week.

"The last four years have demonstrated conclusively that this parliament can use its influence, if not its power, to change broadcasting for the better. I believe that further changes to how broadcasting decisions are made are now necessary. We need to be consulted on subsequent licence fees settlements and the use of that revenue and, importantly, the impact where it has knock-on effects on Scotland.

"We could also have a responsibility for, or at least an involvement in, decisions made by the UK government about local television stations which will broadcast within Scotland."

Holyrood could one day determine which sporting events are shown live on free-to-air TV.

She insisted: "Broadcasting is vital to our nation's sense of identity. Now is the right time to renew the dialogue on whether Scotland should have more responsibilities for broadcasting which would allow us to address matters, such as the Scottish Digital Network, which are a priority at Holyrood but which may not be a focus at Westminster."

Labour's Patricia Ferguson said: "Scottish Labour supports the idea of a Scottish Digital Network but we strongly believe that quality should be driving force and we do not believe that it should be introduced at the expense of existing channels."