NAO: Switchover budget £250million too high

The National Audit Office (NAO) has claimed that out of the budget for switchover assistance – £603million, to be funded via the licence fee – up to £250million could be left over at the end. The figure is based on the switchover process in Whitehaven, in which only one-third of eligible applicants applied for financial assistance with the cost of converting to digital. Their report also warns that not enough is being done to warn viewers that video recorders will also need to be upgraded.