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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

I support my noble friend’s amendment. It seems to be a good one. It reminds me of the words—I shall not attempt to quote him directly—of the noble Lord, Lord Currie, speaking during the passage of the Communications Bill as the then chairman of Ofcom, pleading with noble Lords not to shackle Ofcom with unnecessary bureaucracy. There is nothing worse than having to deliver reports for the sake of it. It does not achieve very much. My noble friend’s amendment makes a lot of sense. In this age when technological advance—we are talking about convergence—is so fast-moving, the idea that we shackle Ofcom with these additional burdens for the sake of it to my mind seems nonsense. It would be far better to look on the whole regulatory function as something that needs to be very pragmatic and flexible to respond sensibly when necessary. There should be an assumption that the Secretary of State will have an eye on the issues at hand, in which case it will make sense for the Secretary of State to decide if and when a report is necessary. I believe that the Minister will accept that the current budget of Ofcom is already fairly enormous and that to add to that budget just for the sake of the administrative burdens proposed here to my mind is nonsense.