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(a) partly within one year to which subsection (2)(a) or (b) applies, and
(b) partly within another such year
that week shall be treated for the purposes of this section as falling wholly within the earlier of those years.'.
No. 668, in page 28, line 49, at end insert--
(3B) The holder of a Channel 3 or Channel 5 licence shall not impose charges for providing subtitling in respect of any programme broadcast in his licensed service.'.
No. 669, in page 29, line 1, leave out subsection (4) and insert-- (4) In this section--
"on Channel 3" means in Channel 3 services taken as a whole ; "on Channel 5" means in the television service referred to in section 26(1), taken as a whole ;
"subtitling" means subtitling for the deaf, whether provided by means of a teletext service or otherwise.'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 33
Party political broadcasts
Amendments made : No. 670, in page 29, line 5, leave out may' and insert shall'.
No. 671, in page 29, line 17, at end insert--
(3) Any rules made by the Commission for the purposes of this section may make different provision for different cases or circumstances.'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 34
Announcements of programme schedules
Amendment made : No. 672, in page 29, line 21, leave out shall' and insert may'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
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Clause 35
Power to direct licensee to publish apology or not to repeat programme
Mr. Mellor : I beg to move amendment No. 405, in page 29, line 33, leave out broadcasting of an apology' and insert
inclusion in the licensed service of a correction or apology (or both)'.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : With this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 406, 407 and 472 to 474.
11 pm
Mr. Mellor : These amendments make some changes in the penalties for licensees who fail to abide by licence conditions. In addition to, or in place of, requiring an apology, the ITC may require the licensee to issue a correction where misinformation has been given in a programme. The amendments also deal with the situation in which correction rather than an apology is needed, and empower the authority to determine the sort of apology that would be appropriate.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendments made : No. 406, in page 29, line 35, leave out an apology' and insert--
a correction or apology (or both)'.
No. 407, in page 29, line 40, leave out an' and insert a correction or'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Mr. Mellor : I beg to move amendment No. 408, in page 30, line 8, leave out from 4' to end of line 9.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : With this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 409 to 414.
Mr. Mellor : Here we have added a ground for the ITC to revoke licences. In addition to revocation for giving false information in an application, the licence may also be revoked if an applicant withholds information with intent to mislead the ITC. Some consequential changes are also made.
Amendment agreed to.
Clause 36
Power to impose financial penalty or shorten licence period
Amendments made : No. 409, in page 30, line 15, after pay', insert , within a specified period,'.
No. 410, in page 31, line 4, leave out from beginning to and' in line 5.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 37
Power to revoke Channel 3 or 5 licence
Amendments made : No. 411, in page 31, line 36, leave out from particular,' to end of line 38 and insert
, or
(b) that, in connection with his application for the licence, the holder of such a licence withheld any material information with the intention of causing them to be misled,'.
No. 380, in page 32, line 3, leave out Channel 3' and insert such'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
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Clause 38
Domestic and non-domestic satellite services
Mr. Mellor : I beg to move amendment No. 501, in page 32, line 23, after (a)', insert (subject to subsection (2A))'.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : With this it will be convenient to take Government amendment No. 502.
Mr. Mellor : These amendments change the definition of a non- domestic satellite service so that in the case of services uplinked from the United Kingdom it applies only when the programmes included in it are provided by a person who is neither in the United Kingdom nor in a prescribed country. This is because under the Council of Europe convention any service provided by a person in a prescribed country will have to be regulated under the law of that country.
Mr. Darling : I do not think that we have any quarrel with the amendment, but I should be grateful if the Minister would tell me what a prescribed country is, or which they are. I think that I understand the basis of the amendment, but I should like to be sure of it.
Mr. Mellor : The prescribed countries are those which have signed the convention, so there is a reciprocal pattern of enforcement.
Mr. Darling : On that basis, I do not quarrel with the amendment. Amendment agreed to.
Amendment made : No. 502, in page 32, line 38, at end insert-- (2A) Subsection (2)(a) does not apply to a service if and to the extent that the programmes included in it--
(a) consist of material provided for inclusion in it (complete and unchanged) by a person in a prescribed country ; and
(b) are intended for general reception in a prescribed country (and are not intended for such reception in the United Kingdom).'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 39
Licensing etc. of domestic satellite services
Amendment made : No. 381, in page 33, line 21, at end insert-- (bb) section 18 shall have effect with the omission of subsection (4B);'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 41
Licensable programme services
Amendments made : No 731, in page 34, line 19, leave out simultaneous'.
No 503, in page 34, line 25, after group', insert or groups'. No 732, in page 34, line 29, at end insert
and whether the programmes are to be so conveyed as mentioned in paragraph (a) for simultaneous reception or for reception at different times in response to requests made by different users of the service.'.
No 504, in page 35, line 1, after who', insert
does either or both of the following things, that is to say (a)'.
No 505, in page 35, line 2, at end insert
, or (b) runs a telecommunication system which is so used,'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
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Clause 42
Licensing etc. of licensable programme services
Amendments made : No 506, in page 35, line 30, leave out 6(1) ' and insert
6'.
No 507, in page 35, line 31, leave out from effect' to end of line 32 and insert
subject to the modifications specified in subsection (4A). (4A) The modifications of section 6 are as follows--
(a) the following paragraph shall be substituted for paragraph (c) of subsection (1)--'.
No. 508, in page 35, leave out lines 38 and 39 and insert (b) the following subsection shall be substituted for subsection (2)--
"(2) In applying subsection (1)(c) to any licensed service, the programmes included in that service shall be taken as a whole." ; and
(c) in subsection (3), paragraph (a)(i) and the words "in other respects" in paragraph (a)(ii) shall be omitted.'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 43
Additional services
Amendments made : No. 509, in page 36, line 10, leave out on' and insert within'.
No. 510, in page 36, line 12, leave out a' and insert any'. No. 511, in page 36, line 12, after 59(1)' insert
other than a frequency which, in pursuance of section 66(2), is assigned by the Commission to a local delivery service (within the meaning of Part II)'.
No. 512, in page 36, line 15, leave out on' and insert within'. No. 513, in page 36, line 17, leave out assigned under section 59(1)' and insert
falling within subsection (1)(a) above'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 44
Licensing of additional services
Amendment proposed : No. 673, in page 37, line 15, after (1)', insert Subject to subsection (1A),'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Mr. Deputy Speaker : With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendment No. 674.
Mr. Rowlands : The amendments involve teletexting, and there are other aspects of subtitling. I apologise for raising yet another S4C point at this late hour, but there is the issue of subtitling in English from Welsh programmes.
I know that S4C has writen to the Minister to tell him that it will have a 75 per cent. subtitling programme, which is way beyond the statutory requirement. I suggest that the Minister considers the statutory requirement to ensure that, where there is a wish to subtitle in English when showing Welsh programmes, there will be no problems with monopolies, such as teletext, which makes expansion difficult. I think that the Minister and I agree that S4C should be able to expand English subtitling of Welsh-language programmes.
Mr. Mellor : Without notice, I cannot be as categorical as I would wish to be. What the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (Mr. Rowlands) has said sounds all
Column 314
right to me, but I shall check the position. As the hon. Gentleman knows, I have taken quite some trouble over these S4C matters. I shall drop him a note.Mr. Simon Coombs : I pay tribute to my hon. and learned Friend the Minister for having responded to the campaign for the preservation of teletext on Channels 3 and 4. The issue led to a considerable argument in Committee, and it should not pass without comment on Report. The campaign will continue outside this place. I think that much was done in Committee to persuade my hon. and learned Friend that we needed to see an opportunity for the preservation of a teletext service on Channels 3 and 4, which may or may not be Oracle, for the many millions who benefit from it.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendments made : No. 514, in page 37, line 17, leave out assigned under section 59(1)' and insert falling within section 43(1)(a)'.
No. 674, in line 24, at end insert--
(1A) The Commission shall do all that they can to secure that a teletext service is provided on so much of the spare capacity available for the provision of additional services on
(a) frequencies on which Channel 3 services are provided, or (
(b) frequencies on which Channel 4 is provided,
or both, as the Secretary of State may approve.'.
No. 515, in line 26, leave out on' and insert within'. No. 516, in line 27, leave out on' and insert within'. No. 127, in page 38, line 4, after facilities', insert reasonably'.
No. 128, in line 5, at end insert--
(5A) Any person who grants to any other person access to facilities in accordance with conditions imposed under subsection (5) may require that other person to pay a reasonable charge in respect thereof ; and any dispute as to the amount of any such charge shall be determined by the Commission.'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 45
Applications for additional services licences
Amendments made : No. 129, in page 38, line 18, after licence', insert
and specifying the closing date for such applications'. No. 130, in line 22, leave out from beginning to and' in line 23.
No. 131, in line 34, leave out and the deposit'.
No. 132, in line 35, leave out and (ii)'.
No. 517, in line 36, leave out from plan' to indicating' in line 37.
No. 518, in line 38, leave out he' and insert the applicant'. No. 519, in line 40, leave out he is able to do so' and insert known to the applicant'.
No. 133, in page 39, line 7, leave out subsections (6) to (9). No. 134, in line 33, at end insert--
(10) the Commission shall, as soon as reasonably practicable after the date specified in a notice under this section as the closing date for applications, publish in such manner as they consider appropriate--
(a) the name of every person who has made an application to them in pursuance of the notice ;
(b) particulars of the technical plan submitted by him under subsection (3)(b) ; and
(c) such other information connected with his application as the Commission consider appropriate.'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
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Clause 46
Procedure to be followed by Commission in connection with consideration of applications for, and awarding of, licences
Amendments made : No. 520, in page 39, line 43, leave out he would be able to maintain his proposed service'
and insert
the services proposed to be provided under the licence would be capable of being maintained'.
No. 135, in page 40, line 7, at end insert--
(aa)subsection (3A) shall be omitted ;'.
No. 136, in page 40, line 15, leave out subsection (5) and insert--
(5) If at any time after an additional services licence has been granted to any person but before the licence has come into force-- (a) that person indicates to the Commission that he does not intend to provide the services in question, or
(b) the Commission for any other reason have reasonable grounds for believing that that person will not provide those services once the licence has come into force,
then, subject to subsection (5A)--
(i) the Commission shall revoke the licence, and
(ii) section 17 (as applied by subsection (3) above) shall have effect as if he had not made an application for the licence. (5A) Subsection (5) shall not apply in the case of any person by virtue of paragraph (b) of that subsection unless the Commission have served on him a notice stating their grounds for believing that he will not provide the services in question once his licence has come into force ; and they shall not serve such a notice on him unless they have given him a reasonable opportunity of making
representations to them about the matters complained of.'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
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