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BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 14 (Exempted business),
That, at this day's sitting, the consideration of Lords Amendments to certain Commons Amendments, and of a Lords consequential Amendment to the Broadcasting Bill [Lords] and consideration of any Lords Amendments or proposals relating to bills which may be received, may be proceeded with, though opposed, until any hour.--[Mr. Brandreth.]
Question agreed to.
Orders of the Day
Broadcasting Bill [Lords]
Lords amendments to Commons amendments, and a Lords consequential amendment, considered.
The Lords have agreed to the amendment made by the Commons: No. 101, insert the following new clause--
No. 101A, in subsection (4), after "appearing", insert ", where second occurring,".
Amendment agreed to.
(".--(1) Section 32 of the 1990 Act (nomination of bodies to provide news for regional Channel 3 services) is amended in accordance with subsections (2) to (5).
(2) For subsections (1) to (6) there is substituted--
"(1) With a view to enabling them to nominate bodies corporate as eligible for appointment for the purposes of section 31(2), the Commission shall invite bodies appearing to them to be qualified for nomination to make applications to be so nominated.
(2) Where a body corporate--
(a) applies to the Commission (whether in pursuance of any such invitation or not) to be nominated under this section as a nominated news provider, and
(b) appears to the Commission to be qualified for nomination, the Commission shall so nominate that body.
(3) Subject to subsection (5), any nomination made by the Commission under this section shall remain in force for a period of ten years, and at the end of that period may be renewed by the Commission for a further period of ten years.
(4) Where the Commission are notified by the holders of licences to provide regional Channel 3 services that the appointment of the appointed news provider is due to expire, or to be renewed or terminated in accordance with the terms of the appointment, the Commission shall review the qualification for nomination of all nominated news providers (including the appointed news provider).
(5) If on any such review it appears to the Commission that a body is no longer qualified for nomination they shall (subject to subsection (6)) by notice terminate that body's nomination.
(6) The Commission shall not terminate a body's nomination under subsection (5) unless they have given the body a reasonable opportunity of making representations to them about the proposed termination."
(3) In subsection (9), paragraph (b) is omitted.
(4) In subsection (12), for the words from "appearing" onwards there is substituted "which--
(a) in their opinion is or, if appointed, would be effectively equipped and adequately financed to provide high quality news programmes for broadcasting in regional Channel 3 services; and
(b) appears to them not to be disqualified for being nominated under this section by virtue of this subsection."
(5) In subsection (13)--
(a) in paragraph (b), after "section", where second occurring, there is inserted "as eligible for appointment", and
(b) after paragraph (b) there is inserted--
"and
(c) references to the appointed news provider are references to the person for the time being appointed for the purposes of section 31(2) under the arrangements referred to in section 31A(a)."
(6) Subsections (2), (4) and (5) do not affect the application of section 32 of the 1990 Act before 1st January 1998 in relation to nomination for the purposes of section 31(2) as originally enacted.") with the following amendment:
The Lords have agreed to the amendment made by the Commons: No. 166, in page 87, line 39, after ("114(1)") insert--
("(f) the entries in Schedule 8 relating to sections 45(8) and (9) and 47(11) and (12) of the 1990 Act, and section 115(2) so far as relating to those entries, and
(g)") with the following amendments:
No. 166A, in line 1, at end insert--
("( ) paragraphs 10B and 13A of Schedule 7 so far as relating to BBC companies (as defined by section 202(1) of the 1990 Act), and section 115(1) so far as relating to those paragraphs in their application to such companies,")
No. 166B, in line 2, after ("sections") insert ("32(9),")
Amendments agreed to.
The Lords have agreed to the amendment made by the Commons: No. 177, in page 91, line 32, at end insert--
("( ) For sub-paragraph (6) there is substituted--
"(6) In this Schedule any reference to a participant with more than a 20 per cent. interest in a body corporate is a reference to a person who--
(a) holds or is beneficially entitled to more than 20 per cent. of the shares in that body, or
(b) possesses more than 20 per cent. of the voting power in that body.
(7) Sub-paragraph (6) shall have effect subject to the necessary modifications in relation to other references in this Schedule--
(a) to an interest of more than a specified percentage in a body corporate, or
(b) to an interest of a specified percentage or more in a body corporate.
(8) Any reference in this Schedule to a person who is over a particular age is a reference to a person who has attained that age") with the following amendment:
No. 177A, in line 17, at end insert--
(".--(1) Paragraph 2 of Part I of Schedule 2 is amended as follows.
(2) At the beginning of sub-paragraph (1) there is inserted "Subject to sub-paragraph (1A)".
(3) After sub-paragraph (1) there is inserted--
"(1A) For the purposes of this Schedule, a person's holding of shares, or possession of voting power, in a body corporate shall be disregarded if, or to the extent that--
(a) he holds the shares concerned--
(i) as a nominee,
(ii) as a custodian (whether under a trust or by a contract), or
(iii) under an arrangement pursuant to which he has issued, or is to issue, depositary receipts, as defined by section 220(1) of the Companies Act 1985, in respect of the shares concerned, and
(b) he is not entitled to exercise or control the exercise of voting rights in respect of the shares concerned.
(1B) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1A)(b)--
(a) a person is not entitled to exercise or control the exercise of voting rights in respect of shares if he is bound (whether by contract or otherwise) not to exercise the voting rights, or not to exercise them otherwise than in accordance with the instructions of another, and
(b), voting rights which a person is entitled to exercise or of which he is entitled to control the exercise only in certain circumstances shall be taken into account only when those circumstances have arisen and for long as they continue to obtain."")
Amendment agreed to.
The Lords have agreed to the amendment made by the Commons: No. 185, in page 94, leave out lines 4 to 50 and insert--
("General limit on the holding of licences to provide television services or interests in bodies corporate holding such licences
2.--(1) If any person's audience time, in respect of a period of twelve months ending with the last day of any calendar month, exceeds 15 per cent. of total audience time, he shall not, subject to sub-paragraph (4), at any time in the following month--
(a) hold two or more licences to provide relevant services falling within one or more of the categories specified in paragraph 1(2)(a), (b), (c), (d) or (g),
(b) be a participant with a qualifying interest in two or more bodies corporate each of which holds a licence, or two or more licences, to provide services falling within one or more of those categories,
(c) hold any licence to provide a relevant service falling within any of those categories and be a participant with a qualifying interest in any body corporate which holds such a licence or two or more such licences,
(d) provide a foreign satellite service and either hold any licence to provide a relevant service falling within any of those categories or be a participant with a qualifying interest in a body corporate which holds such a licence or two or more such licences, or
(e) hold a licence to provide relevant services falling within the category specified in paragraph 1(2)(g) and provide two or more such services.
(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), and subject to sub-paragraph (3), a person's audience time in respect of any period is the aggregate of--
(a) the audience time attributable in respect of that period to each relevant service falling within any of the categories specified in paragraph 1(2)(a), (b), (c), (d) or (g) provided under a licence held by him,
(b) one half of the audience time attributable in respect of that period to any relevant service falling within any of the categories specified in paragraph 1(2)(a), (b), (c), (d) or (g) provided under a licence held by a body corporate which he does not control, but in which he is a participant with a qualifying interest, and
(c) the audience time attributable in respect of that period to any foreign satellite service provided by him.
(3) For the purposes of calculating a person's audience time in respect of any period in accordance with sub-paragraph (2)--
(b) there shall (for the avoidance of doubt) be excluded the audience time attributable in respect of that period to each service referred to in sub-paragraph (2) in respect of which, prior to the date upon which the calculation of his audience time for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1) is made, he has ceased to hold the licence, or to be a participant in the holder of the licence, or to provide the service (as the case may be).
(4) Sub-paragraph (1) shall not prevent a person from continuing to hold any licence, or to be a participant in a body corporate which holds any licence, or from continuing to provide any service (as the case may be) if and to the extent that arrangements made by him after the end of the period in respect of which his audience time exceeds 15 per cent. of total audience time would cause his audience time, calculated so as to take into account the efffect of those arrangements, not to exceed 15 per cent. of total audience time.
(5) In this paragraph "foreign satellite service" means any service (other than a non-domestic satellite service) which consists in the transmission of television programmes by satellite, is provided on a frequency other than one allocated to the United Kingdom for broadcasting by satellite and either--
(a) appears to the Commission to be intended for general reception in the United Kingdom (whether or not it appears to them to be also intended for general reception elsewhere), or
(b) is (to any extent) relayed by a local delivery service.
(6) References in this paragraph--
(a) to the audience time attributable to any service in respect of any period, or
(b) to total audience time in respect of any period,
shall be construed in accordance with paragraph 3.
(7) In this paragraph "qualifying interest" means an interest of more than 20 per cent.
(8) The Secretary of State may by order amend sub-paragraph (7)--
(a) by substituting a different percentage for any percentage for the time being specified there, and
(b) so as to specify different percentages in relation to licences to provide different services.
(9) The Secretary of State may by order amend sub-paragraphs (1)(a), (2)(a) and (b) by adding a reference to relevant services falling within the category specified in paragraph 1(2)(aa)") with the following amendments:
No. 185A, leave out lines 4 to 7 and insert
("No one person may, at any time when his audience time in respect of the period of twelve months ending with the last day of the preceding calendar month exceeds 15 per cent of total audience time in respect of that period--")
No. 185B, in line 27, leave out
(", and subject to sub-paragraph (3)")
No. 185C, in line 28, after ("time") insert ("at any time ("the relevant time")")
No. 185D, in line 33, at end insert ("at the relevant time")
No. 185E, in line 38, after ("is") insert ("at the relevant time")
No. 185F, in line 41, at end insert ("at the relevant time")
No. 185G, in line 42, leave out sub-paragraphs (3) and (4)
Amendments agreed to.
The Lords have agreed to the amendment made by the Commons: No. 282, in page 128, line 9, at end insert--
(". In section 202(1) of the 1990 Act (interpretation)--
(a) after the definition of "broadcast" there is inserted--
""a Channel 4 company" means--
(a) any body corporate which is controlled by the Channel Four Television Corporation, or
(b) any body corporate in which the Corporation or any body corporate falling within paragraph (a) above is (to any extent) a participant (as defined in paragraph 1(1) of Part I of Schedule 2);"
(b) in the definition of "connected", for "licence" there is substituted "person", and
(c) after the definition of "programme" there is inserted--
""an S4C company" means--
(a) any body corporate which is controlled by the Welsh Authority, or
(b) any body corporate in which the Welsh Authority or any body corporate falling within paragraph (a) above is (to any extent) a participant (as defined in paragraph 1(1) of Part I of Schedule 2);"") with the following consequential amendment to the Bill:
No. 282A, in page 45, line 5, leave out
("in relation to his additional services licence")
Consequential amendment agreed to.
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