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Wireless Telegraphy (Pre-Consolidation Amendments) Order 2006

rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 27 April be approved. [25th Report from the Joint Committee]. The noble Lord said: My Lords, the order makes pre-consolidation amendments which facilitate, or are otherwise desirable in connection with, the consolidation of six enactments about wireless telegraphy in the Wireless Telegraphy Bill. Those enactments are: the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949; the Marine, &c, Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967; the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1967, except Part 1; Part 6 of the Telecommunications Act 1984; the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1998; Part 2 of Chapter 2 of the Communications Act 2003; and other provisions of the 2003 Act so far as they relate to any of the enactments mentioned above. The Wireless Telegraphy Bill was introduced in this House on 20 April 2006 and read for a second time on 3 May 2006. It has been referred to the Joint Committee on Consolidation of Bills Etc. The Law Commission proposed that the existing legislation be consolidated into a single Act, making the legislation easier for users of the radio spectrum to understand and to use. The Bill is important for several reasons, not least because it is the first consolidation measure to be introduced for some time. Consolidation is an important part of the Government’s better regulation agenda. It will assist in making legislation easier to understand and to apply. It further improves the statute book and saves energy, time and costs for those who have to consult it. Ofcom, which will be one of the prime users of the legislation, welcomes the Bill. The order is part of this consolidation exercise. It is made under a power in the Communications Act 2003, which gives the Secretary of State power to modify existing legislation by order where it would facilitate or would otherwise be desirable in connection with the consolidation. It therefore assists the consolidation process. Predominantly, the modifications made by the order relate to ensuring consistency of approach in the various enactments, and are largely technical. They make modifications to the existing legislation, which will be reflected in the provisions that are repealed and re-enacted by the consolidation Bill or that affect the consequential amendments made by the consolidation Bill. I shall take your Lordships through the key technical points. The first modification removes an anomaly in relation to the treatment of conduct rendered unlawful under Section 7 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1967 when compared with conduct which is unlawful under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949. Such unlawful conduct under the 1967 Act is declared to be an offence under the 1949 Act, and the order ensures that provision for civil proceedings in relation to such conduct is applied to it. This puts it on an equal footing with offences in Part 2 of the 1949 Act, which are aimed at the same mischief—undue or deliberate interference with wireless telegraphy. The second modification also removes an anomaly. Under the existing legislation, it is doubtful whether Section 1D of the 1949 Act, which provides the procedure for granting wireless telegraphy licences, would be capable of being extended to the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man because it was inserted by regulations made under Section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. Those regulations could not have made provision for the islands. This is therefore inconsistent with the other provisions of the 1949 Act. The order modifies the legislation so that all provisions about the granting of wireless telegraphy licences and the making of grants of recognised spectrum access are treated in the same way in this respect. Of course, extension to the islands is not compelled, and any provision may be extended with modifications. Paragraph 4 of the schedule corrects an oversight. The 1949 Act contains a particular provision about forfeiture following conviction for an offence under that Act. There is also a general provision about forfeiture following conviction in the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000. There is corresponding provision in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The class of offences to which the particular provision applies has been extended by the Telecommunications Act 1984 and the Broadcasting Act 1990. The general provision has been disapplied in relation to some of those offences, but not all. This modification ensures that the general provision is disapplied in relation to all offences to which the particular provision is applied. The modification in paragraph 5 aligns a provision relating to wireless telegraphy licences with the corresponding provision for grants of recognised spectrum access. It amends Section 4(5) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1998 so that Ofcom can revoke or vary a wireless telegraphy licence if it is necessary or expedient to do so for the purpose of complying with international obligations of the United Kingdom as defined by Section 405 of the Communications Act 2003. This mirrors the corresponding provision for grants of RSA, which we consider to be appropriate. The 2003 Act definition may be wider than the current description in the 1998 Act, but we think that little would be covered by the former that is not covered by the latter. Of course, there may also be provision about revocation and variation of a wireless telegraphy licence in the licence itself. Paragraph 6 ensures consistency in definitions in the Acts being consolidated. The definitions concerned are ““broadcast””, ““frequency””, ““information”” and ““international obligation of the United Kingdom””. Broadly speaking, the definitions in the Communications Act 2003 will be applied to undefined references to those terms in the 1949 Act, in Part 2 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1967 and in Part 6 of the 1984 Act. We consider that appropriate in the context of each relevant term. Paragraph 7 of the schedule relates to disclosure of information. There are provisions relating to such disclosure in a number of enactments. These provisions allow information obtained under one Act to be used by Ministers and other government bodies for the purpose of carrying out certain governmental functions which are normally referenced as functions under listed Acts and statutory instruments. Some of these disclosure provisions provide for disclosure of information in relation to the 1984 and 2003 Acts, but not the other enactments being consolidated. The effect of paragraph 7 is to treat all provisions of the Wireless Telegraphy Bill in the same way as regards disclosure of information provisions in certain enactments. If that was not done, it would lead to some anomalous results—disclosure provisions would cover provisions about making grants of RSA but not wireless telegraphy licences, and would cover provisions about type approval and marking of apparatus but not the use and sale of apparatus. That is because of the consequential amendments that would be made to references in the 1984 and 2003 Acts in the enactments mentioned in paragraph 7. We think consistency of approach is desirable—hence the modification. Paragraph 8 also ensures consistent treatment in the legislation being consolidated. It enables the variety of provision mentioned in Section 402(3) of the 2003 Act to be made in relation to all order-making and regulation-making powers of the Secretary of State re-enacted in the Wireless Telegraphy Bill. That will better reflect the order-making and regulation-making powers of Ofcom, and will ensure consistency when there is a power exercisable by either Ofcom or the Secretary of State. Paragraph 9 has a similar aim. It enables the same variety of provision to be made by Her Majesty by Order in Council when extending provisions to the Channel Islands or Isle of Man. I beg to move. Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 27 April be approved [25th Report from the Joint Committee].—(Lord Sainsbury of Turville.)