§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to require manufacturers of television sets to indicate on the sets that they are capable of receiving digital television. [141623]
§ Ms HewittConsumers should be able to make an informed choice between purchasing an integrated digital television set and an analogue television set that requires a set top box to receive and decode digital signals. The Trade Descriptions Act 1968 prohibits the false or misleading descriptions of products, whether by means of a label or any other means, such as an oral statement.
138WTherefore, it would be an offence to describe a television set falsely, and if there are occasions when traders are misleading consumers by describing analogue TVs as digital, I would urge consumers to take the matter up with their local trading standards office. My Department has contacted the Local Authorities Co-ordinating Body on Food and Trading Standards (LACOTS) to establish the nature and extent of any problem in this area.