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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

The noble Baroness was talking about the role and independence of newspapers. None of us could conceive of any impartiality requirement upon newspapers. Their editorial line and content must be free. However, the Government are concerned that news content programmes provided through the new media will be subject to clear provisions with regard to the impartiality of news. My noble friend must recognise that there is a great distance between the issues that the noble Baroness, Lady Buscombe, raised with regard to newspapers, on which I want to give the assurance, and the more limited point that my noble friend put forward. Clause 1 qualifies the existing provision that Ofcom should exercise its principal duty where appropriate by promoting competition, by requiring Ofcom to have particular regard—I come back to the point that I know still exercises the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay—in all cases to the promotion of investment in electronic communication networks and in public service media content. The amendment restricts the scope of the qualifier in relation to promoting investment in public service media content to such content provided by the public service broadcasters. It is widely accepted that plurality of public service media content delivers significant social and economic benefits to our country. The substantive upgrading of communication networks in the UK means that there are now more opportunities for content providers, other than PSBs, to provide public service media content. While the opportunities to provide content have increased, so has the accessibility of content from abroad provided, for example, on multichannel television and broadband. This, together with shifting advertising revenues and economies of production, is threatening the production of UK public service content. My noble friend quantified that in the earlier debate; it is a matter about which we should all be concerned. To accept this amendment would ignore the new opportunities provided by increasingly popular electronic platforms and would restrict Ofcom’s ability to promote investment to a narrow range of broadcasters. There would therefore be a higher risk of a loss of plurality and competition for the BBC in the provision of public service media content. Although I may have difficulty in taking the Opposition with me on some of the proposition, I feel reasonably secure when I emphasise effective and proper competition to the BBC in public service broadcasting. In no way does Clause 3 give Ofcom additional regulatory powers. The clause extends the scope of Ofcom’s existing reviewing and reporting duties to include content provided by providers other than public service broadcasters, but does not mean that Ofcom can regulate those providers in any way, nor do we intend that Ofcom should. I guarantee from the Dispatch Box that at any stage when this issue is raised, we will be as assertive as we can be in this refutation. I hope that reassure the noble Baroness. However, Clause 3 requires Ofcom to review and prepare a report on the contribution of material included in media services to the fulfilment of the public service objectives. The clause does not limit media services to a particular provider, although they must be available to the public in the UK. The amendment would restrict Ofcom’s wider reviewing and reporting obligation in relation to media services provided by public sector broadcasters only. Ofcom’s previous public sector broadcasting reports have provided a very useful analysis of the state of public service television broadcasting in the UK. The reports support Ofcom’s recommendations to the Government on public service broadcasting. The provision of public service content is now no longer restricted to PSBs. The substantive upgrading of the communications networks has increased the opportunities for more content providers. Accepting this amendment would therefore result in Ofcom making recommendations to the Government based on a partial assessment, which would be to the detriment of public service content provided beyond the PSBs. That is why I resist the amendment. The wider reviewing and reporting duty of Ofcom will help to maintain and strengthen the fulfilment of the public services objective. It is crucial that Ofcom’s future reports are able to take into account this wider delivery of public service content, to allow Ofcom to make accurate recommendations to the Government, on which the Government might then be able to act. I hope the noble Lord, Lord Howard, will first of all recognise the heartfelt appreciation I have for him in having raised these issues. I hope he will also have noticed my significant self-denying ordnance, in a testing year, from indulging in political knockabout. The noble Lord, Lord Razzall, a great friend of mine on the Liberal Benches, may indulge himself, but from the Dispatch Box the noble Lord, Lord Howard, will have noticed that I have not engaged in such issues. Therefore, I hope he can feel that he can withdraw the amendment in the confidence that the Government have got it just about right.