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Localism Bill

My Lords, I warmly welcome the government amendments. In talking to this group, I declare an interest as a director of the Advertising Standards Board of Finance. I first raised this issue at Second Reading with the health warning that it appeared to be a rather dry and technical issue. So it is, but it has been an important issue to a substantial industry. The outdoor advertising industry in the UK is worth well over a billion pounds and accounts for 10 per cent of all display advertising, employing, directly or indirectly, about 15,000 people. It is also a very responsible industry and is fully committed to the codes of advertising practice enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority. Although the noble Lord, Lord Smith, may be able to tell us more, complaints about outdoor advertisements have, as I understand it, dropped by more than 30 per cent in the past year or so. It is absolutely right that we should do what we can to support the industry, and the Government’s amendments—which will give the industry real local power over appeals against enforcement notices—do just that. I add my thanks to the Minister and her colleagues for listening to the real concerns and for acting. These amendments give real force to the issues that we raised and I warmly welcome them.