Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Minutes of Evidence


Examination of Witnesses (Questions 416-419)

PAUL BOLT, PATRICIA HODGSON CBE, DAVID EDMONDS, TONY STOLLER AND DAVID HENDON

TUESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2002

Chairman

  416. Lady and gentlemen, thank you very much for coming to see us; as formidable a panel as we have had before us for quite a while. I understand, Mr Stoller, that, before we start the questioning, there are some introductory remarks you would like to make?

  (Mr Stoller) Chairman, thank you, yes; just by way of doing a brief introduction, on behalf of the five of us, how much we welcome the opportunity of giving oral evidence to you today. Three of our organisations have put in written memoranda, as well; and to say we will all be happy to deal both with matters that deal with our own individual areas of responsibility and also, of course, the preparatory work we have done by way of paving the way towards OFCOM. Thank you.

  Chairman: Those were brief remarks, Mr Stoller. Thank you very much.

Ms Shipley

  417. I would like to address my opening questions to Patricia Hodgson, in her role. You may or may not know that I tabled an early day motion in the House on children's advertising. Now you, in your CV to us, say, "guarantee appropriate editorial and advertising standards." So I wonder, because I want to be very focused in my questioning, if you could, very briefly, express that in terms of broadcasting to pre-school children?
  (Ms Hodgson) We would hope to ensure that there was a good range of high quality programming available for pre-school children, particularly original UK production, and I believe your concerns have been about the advertising that surrounds such programmes; and, of course, the current regime is that certain advertisements are deemed unsuitable for broadcasting around children's programming, defined by different age groups.

  418. And I would like you to address just pre-school, please?
  (Ms Hodgson) Yes. And there are prohibitions on certain kinds of advertising for that group, as well as for older groups, and, indeed, within two hours of that programming. I think your underlying question, which was whether advertising should be excluded altogether from around such programming, raises a bigger question from the precise suitability of particular ads, which is how otherwise do you fund the programming?

  419. That is not what I want to go into with you though, I think that is outside your area for this particular thing. What I am getting at is that you are telling me that there are prohibitions around pre-school, what can be advertised around pre-school broadcasts?
  (Ms Hodgson) Yes.


 
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