Memorandum submitted by the Parliamentary
Broadcasting Unit Limited (PARBUL)
BACKGROUND BRIEFING
PAPER
1. Parliamentary Broadcasting Unit Limited
(PARBUL) is the company which provides to broadcasters the television
pictures of the proceedings of the House of Commons, the House
of Lords and of committees of each House. It does this by employing
CCT Productions Limited to operate the cameras located in the
Palace of Westminster and by making available to broadcasters
as they request the resulting pictures (with a sound feed attached).
The company holds copyright licences from the Speaker (for the
House of Commons) and the Clerk of the Parliaments (for the House
of Lords) which allow it to do this. All those concerned in this
process are obliged to operate within the rules of coverage set
by the relevant authorities in each House.
2. All broadcasters who have access to the
television feed from Westminster pay a fee. Those broadcasters,
who are also shareholders in the company, receive the feed in
return for funding the company as described in paragraph 8 below;
other users of the feed pay a fee freely negotiated with PARBUL.
3. PARBUL is owned by the major broadcasting
companies. The company has eight issued shares as follows:
|
| No of Shares
|
|
British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC1, BBC2, BBC News 24 and BBC Parliament)
| 4 |
Independent Television Association Limited
(Channel 3)
| 1 |
| Channel 4 Television Corporation | 1
|
British Sky Broadcasting Limited
(Satellite)
| 1 |
| Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited | 1
|
|
4. The board of PARBUL consists of up to 19 directors
who are currently as follows:
|
| Chairman | Sir Alan Haselhurst MP
|
| Commons Directors |
|
| Appointed by the Speaker | The Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP
Eric Clarke MP
Roger Gale MP
Andrew Stunell MP
|
| Lords Directors | |
| Appointed by the House of Lords | Lord Boston of Faversham QC
Lord Thomson of Monifieth KT
Lord Burnham
Lord Morris of Castle Morris
|
| Supervisor of Parliamentary Broadcasting
| Margaret Douglas OBE |
| Shareholder Directors |
|
| British Broadcasting Corporation | Anne Sloman
Peter Phillips
Neil Dormand
Roger Mosey
|
| Independent Television Association Ltd |
Steve Anderson |
| Channel 4 Television Corporation | David Lloyd
|
| British Sky Broadcasting Limited | Nick Pollard
|
| Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited | Chris Shaw
|
| Appointed by all shareholders | Paul Mathews
|
|
All directors have one vote and the Chairman has a casting
vote in the event of a tie. The Secretary of PARBUL is Martin
Webster, a partner in the firm of Biddle, solicitors.
5. The board usually meets twice a year; in February
or March prior to its AGM, and in the Summer to approve a budget
for the forthcoming year beginning 1 October.
6. At the February/March board meeting each year the
board is asked to review the authority granted to an executive
committee of the board to see to the running of the company on
a day-to-day basis. Paul Mathews is a member of the committee
and is a part-time employee of the company. The other members
of the committee are Margaret Douglas, the Supervisor of Parliamentary
Broadcasting, and Peter Phillips who, with his staff at the BBC,
looks after the company's accounting function.
7. At each board meeting the Executive Directors report
on matters arising since the previous meeting and answer questions
from the other directors on the company's affairs. Any director
is entitled to convene a meeting of the board at any time.
8. The shareholders have entered into an agreement between
themselves and PARBUL whereby they agree to fund PARBUL's gross
expenditure each year to the extent of the budget previously agreed
by them and adopted by the board at its summer meeting. (This
shareholder's agreement expires in 2001 when the copyright licences
from the House of Commons and the House of Lords referred to in
paragraph 1 above may be terminated by the Speaker and the Clerk
of the Parliaments.) This arrangement ensures that, as PARBUL's
liabilities are unlikely to be fully met from its income, the
shortfall will be met by the shareholders.
9. PARBUL should thus never find itself trading while
insolvent and its directors will consequently avoid liability
under the Insolvency Act 1986 for wrongful trading.
10. The broadcaster shareholders agree that PARBUL works
well as a mechanism. We are convinced that its 10 year history
proves its worth as a useful forum for shareholders, broadcasters
and representatives of Parliament to discuss coverage and ongoing
issues.
11. The system has stood the test of time to such a degree
that we believe it is mature enough to allow a reassessment of
the rules. In Scotland and Wales, where the Parliament and Assembly
are now up and running, coverage is free of many of the limitations
and restrictions in force at Westminster. We believe it is time
to modernise the rules, in order to allow better and more modern
coverage of Parliamentary proceedings.
12. Also, we believe that we are at the point of substantial
reassessment of the cost of re-equipping the Chamber. This process
has to happen in the next couple of years. The models adopted
in Scotland and Wales contrast with that of Westminster. They
reflect a more realistic balance in investment and expenditure
between Parliament and the broadcasters, and recognise the different
relationship that exists now compared to 10 years ago.
October 1999
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