| Previous Section | Home Page |
Column 328
it will want coverage of about 70 per cent. immediately. As the station becomes successful, it is hoped that it will build up the coverage.The matter can be explored further with the Radio Authority. I do not want to be the bringer of bad news but it would not be easy to guarantee 100 per cent. coverage straight away. It would be wrong of me to stand at the Dispatch Box and mislead the hon. Gentleman on that point.
Mr. Maclennan : With the leave of the House. I find the Minister's answer rather disturbing, and it will take a number of people by surprise. What have been heralded as three new national radio stations are, initially, to cover only 70 per cent. of the country. I hope that another place will give serious consideration to the implications of that.
I wonder whether a reason for such coverage is the unwillingness of the Government to entertain other amendments that I moved at an earlier stage on the cross-subsidy of transmission costs. It is desirable that we should use our existing transmission arrangements. If it is technically possible to carry signals from one end of the country to the other, I hope that that will be done, notwithstanding the attenuation of some of the lines.
It is clearly too late in our deliberation on the Bill to effect a change in the Government's mind, but I hope that the matter will be considered in another place with great interest.
Mr. Cryer : Powers are included in the Bill for the Secretary of State to amend clause 79(2)(a), which allows certain variations on the national services. The proposed amendment No. 422 is welcome. What is even more welcome is the fact that any amendment to the Bill must come back to the House and be subject to an affirmative order. I commend the Minister's attitude to other Departments that seem to want to change primary legislation--too often, I fear--without, in some instances, a further reference to the House. If a change is made via an affirmative order, it means that the Minister remains accountable to some degree, and that is welcome.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendments made : No. 417, in page 61, line 27, leave out between persons providing licensed services'
and insert
in the provision of such services and services connected with them.'.
No. 423, in page 61, line 28, at end insert--
(4) The Secretary of State may by order make such amendments of subsection (2)(a) as he considers appropriate
(a) for including in that provision a requirement that one of the national services there referred to should be a service of a particular description, or
(b) for removing such a requirement from that provision ; and (without prejudice to the generality of section 178(2)(b)) any such order may make such consequential amendments of section 92(1)(b)(iii) as the Secretary of State considers appropriate. (5) An order shall not be made under subsection (4) unless a draft of it has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.'.
No. 613, in page 61, line 28, at end insert--
(3A) Subsection (3)(b) shall not be construed as affecting the discharge by the Director General of Fair Trading, the
Column 329
Secretary of State or the Monopolies and Mergers Commission of any of his or their functions in connection with competition.'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]Clause 80
Licences under Part III
Amendments made : No. 537, in page 61, line 35, at end insert ; and (without prejudice to the generality of the preceding provision) a licence may be so granted for the provision of a service which to any extent consists in the simultaneous broadcasting of different programmes on different frequencies.'.
No. 418, in page 62, line 19, at end insert--
(7A) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (7), the Authority shall not give their consent for the purposes of that subsection unless they are satisfied that any such other person would be in a position to comply with all of the conditions included in the licence throughout the remainder of the period for which it is to be in force.'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 81
General licence conditions.
Amendments made : No. 123, in page 63, line 10, leave out fee or'.
No. 124, in page 63, line 11, after be', insert
in accordance with such tariff as may from time to time be fixed by the Authority ; and the amount of any fee which is to be so paid by the holder of a licence of a particular class or description shall be'.
No. 125, in page 63, line 12, leave out licence holder' and insert
holder of such a licence'.
No. 126, in page 63, line 14, at end insert--
(3A) The tariff fixed under subsection (3) may specify different fees in relation to different cases or circumstances ; and the Authority shall publish that tariff, and every revision of it, in such manner as they consider appropriate.'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 84
General requirements as to licensed services
Mr. Mellor : I beg to move amendment No. 538, in page 65, line 26, leave out from beginning to as' in line 29.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendments Nos. 539 and 419.
Mr. Mellor : I am grateful to the hon. Member for Bradford, South (Mr. Cryer) for what he said earlier. In the Bill we have made a serious effort to include parliamentary procedures in a number of instances that were not present before. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his persistent pressure on that point. At a similar hour towards the end of the Bill's Second Reading and its aftermath, I promised the hon. Gentleman to make such inclusions, and I hope that I have delivered on that promise six months later.
The first two amendments in the group remove an inconsistency in clause 84. At the moment, clause 84(3) refers to programmes taken as a whole, while subsection (4) refers to a series of programmes. We have taken out the reference to a series of programmes, since the two subsections would have made a different attempt to define the same concept. No substantive change has been made.
Column 330
Amendment No. 419 honours an undertaking I gave in Committee, that the authority should be required, so far as reasonably practicable, to consult its licensees about the programme code as well as the advertising code in clause 87.Amendment agreed to.
Amendment made : No. 539, in page 65, line 29, leave out in other respects'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 85
General code for programmes
Amendment made : No. 419, in page 66, line 10, at end insert-- (2A) Before drawing up or revising the code under this section the Authority shall (to such extent as they consider it reasonably practicable to do so) consult every person who is the holder of a licence under this Part.'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 86
General provisions as to advertisements
Amendment made : No. 540, in page 66, line 35, at end insert-- (2A) Nothing in subsection (2) shall be construed as prohibiting the inclusion in a licensed service of any party political broadcast which complies with the rules (so far as applicable) made by the Authority for the purposes of section 100.'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 87
Control of Advertisements
Amendments made : No. 475, in page 67, leave out line 11. No. 476, in page 67, line 20, at end insert--
and (to the extent that the Authority consider such consultation to be reasonably practicable) consultation with every person who is the holder of a licence under this Part.'.
No. 420, in page 67, line 41, after advertising', insert or sponsorship'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 89
Use by Authority of recordings etc.to monitor programmes
Amendments made : No. 619, page 68, line 39, leave out may include conditions enabling the Authority to require' and insert shall include conditions requiring'.
No. 421, in page 68, line 41, leave out 90' and insert 42'. No. 620, in page 68, line 44, leave out
to produce any such recording to the Authority'
and insert
at the request of the Authority, to produce to them any such recording'.
No. 621, in page 68, line 46, leave out
to produce to the Authority'
and insert
at the request of the Authority, to produce to them'.
No. 622, in page 68, line 46, after script', insert or transcript'.
No. 234, in page 68, line 47, at end insert--
(3) Nothing in this Part shall be construed as requiring the Authority, in the discharge of their duties under this Part as respects licensed services and the programmes included in them, to listen to such programmes in advance of their being included in such services.'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Column 331
Clause 90
Audience research
Amendments made : No. 235, in page 69, line 1, after ascertaining', insert- -
(a)'.
No. 236, in line 3, at end insert--
(b) any effects of such programmes on the attitudes or behaviour of persons who listen to them ; and
(c) the types of programme that members of the public would like to be included in licensed services.'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 92
Applications for national licences
Amendments made : No. 424, in page 68, line 41, leave out and'. No. 425, in line 43, at end insert--
(iii) if the service is to be one falling within section 79(2)(a)(i) or (ii), that the service is to be such a service, and (iv) if there is any existing licensed national service, that the service is to be one which caters for tastes and interests different from those already catered for by any such service (as described in the notice) ;'.
No. 426, in line 44, after licence', insert
and specifying the closing date for such applications'. No. 427, in page 70, leave out lines 3 and 4.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Mr. Fisher : I beg to move amendment No. 91, in page 70, line 9, leave out
in pursuance of section 96(1)(b)'.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : With this it will be convenient to take the following amendments : No. 95, in line 27, leave out
(c) the applicant's cash bid in respect of the licence ;' No. 97, in page 71, line 16, leave out from part' to end of line 19 and insert
"qualifying revenue" means all payments received or to be received by the licence holder for any accounting period--
(a) in consideration of the inclusion in the licensed service in that period of advertisements or other programmes, or
(b) in respect of charges made by him in that period for the reception of programmes included in that service.'.
No. 101, in clause 96, page 74, leave out from line 14 to line 33, and insert--
an amount representing the percentage of qualifying revenue determined by the Secretary of State for each accounting period to be paid in equal annual instalments throughout the period for which the licence is in force.'.
11.45 pm
Mr. Fisher : We covered this ground thoroughly in Committee, so I shall not detain the House and the Minister long, but we wish to put down a marker yet again to say that the Government have got it wrong in their determination to make money a substantial factor in the allocation of radio franchises. We had a long debate in Committee about the importance of a quality threshold for the national commercial radio stations, and the Minister said then that he believed that radio was different from television and there was not the same need for setting quality thresholds. We believed then that he was wrong, and we hoped that, when the Bill went to another place, that debate would be taken up.
Column 332
I suspect that it would be over-optimistic to think that, since we concluded the Committee stage, the Minister has seen the error of his ways. In the many strong arguments that he made in defence of his position at various stages in Committee, that was not one of his finest moments. It is difficult for him to look squarely in the face those many hundreds of thousands--millions--of people in this country who care deeply about the quality of radio, and say that, when allocating franchises in radio, he does not believe that it is necessary to have a quality threshold, whereas he does accept that television is so important that it should have quality thresholds. I think that, being a fair man, the Minister knows in his heart of hearts that that is wrong, and that there are millions of people for whom radio is a central part of their lives. It is important that the exciting potential of the three national stations that could add something to our radio culture should be given to the best broadcasters, and there should be a quality threshold that people applying for those franchises should have to overcome.The Minister made a good case about the threshold in relation to television. It is every bit as true in relation to radio, and I urge him to give himself the space and time to find the words to come back to this matter, either now or later. In his heart of hearts, I think that he knows that it is important, and many people who believe in radio would appreciate it if he put down the marker that quality in radio was as important as quality in television.
Mr. Mellor : I certainly agree that quality is important. I think that the only issue is how best we attain it. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, Central (Mr. Fisher) for the understanding way in which he put his point. I appreciate that, although we have moved closer on some issues, there are others on which our positions remain apart. I cannot improve on, and certainly would not seek to repeat, the explanation that I gave in Committee, but I am sure that the hon. Gentleman's prediction that the other place will take an interest in the matter will undoubtedly prove true. I shall be following those discussions closely and will continue to evaluate the matter and other parts of the Bill as we progress.
Amendment negatived.
Amendments made : No. 428, in page 70, line 21, at end insert-- (aa) the applicant's proposals for providing a service that would both--
(i) comply with any requirement specified in the notice under subsection (1)(b)(iii) or (iv), and
(ii) consist of a diversity of programmes calculated to appeal to a variety of tastes and interests ;'.
No. 429, in page 70, line 22, leave out and the deposit'. No. 430, in page 70, line 23, leave out and(ii)'.
No. 431, in page 70, leave out lines 24 to 26.
No. 432, in page 70, line 26, at end insert--
(ba) the applicant's proposals for training or retraining persons employed or to be employed by him in order to help fit them for employment in, or in connection with, the making of programmes to be included in his proposed service ;'.
No. 433, in page 70, line 27, leave out and'.
No. 434, in page 70, line 28, after require', insert--
(i)'.
No. 435, in page 70, line 31, at end insert
, and
(ii) as to the arrangements which the applicant proposes to make for, and in connection with, the transmission of his proposed service ; and
Column 333
(e) such other information as the Authority may reasonably require for the purpose of considering the application.'.No. 436, in page 70, line 34, leave out subsection (3)(b) or (d)' and insert
any of paragraphs (aa), (ba), (d) and (e) of subsection (3)'. No. 437, in page 70, line 38, leave out subsections (6) to (8). No. 438, in page 71, line 15, at end insert--
(8A) The Authority 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) the proposals submitted by him under subsection (3)(aa) ; and (c) such other information connected with his application as the Authority consider appropriate.'.
No. 541, in page 71, line 15, at end insert--
(8B) In this section "programme" does not include an advertisement.'.
No. 439, in page 71, line 18, after amount', insert of money'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
Clause 93
Procedure to be followed by Authority in connection with consideration of applications for national licences
Amendments made : No. 440, in page 71, line 24, after would', insert
both--
(i) comply with any requirement specified under subsection (1)(b)(iii) or (iv) of section 92, and
(ii)'.
No. 441, in page 71, line 25, leave out section 92(3)(b)' and insert
subsection (3)(aa) of that section'.-- [Mr. Mellor.]
| Next Section
| Home Page |