Vote Bundle Text (930114-11)

Amendments proposed to the Communications Bill - continued	House of Commons

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Publication of reasons relating to orders amending section 58(2A) or (2B) of the Enterprise Act 2002

Mr John Whittingdale
Mr John Greenway
Mr Andrew Robathan
Mr Mark Hoban

NC21

To move the following Clause:—

'In section 107 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (further publicity requirements)—

(a) in subsection (8)(b) at the beginning there shall be inserted "subject to subsection (8A)", and

(b) after subsection (8) there shall be inserted—

"(8A) Such reasons shall, in the case of subsection (7)(b) where the order affects section 58(2A) or (2B), be published not later than the time the order is published or if it is not reasonably practicable to publish the reasons by that time, not later than three weeks after that time.

(8B) Where such reasons ("the main reasons") are published after the time an order affecting section 58(2A) or (2B) is made, the reasons for the delay in publication shall be published together with the main reasons.".'.

Free of charge newspapers

Mr John Whittingdale
Mr John Greenway
Mr Andrew Robathan
Mr Mark Hoban

NC22

To move the following Clause:—

'In section 129 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (other interpretation provisions) after subsection (4) there shall be inserted—

"(5) For the purposes of determining any market share of a newspaper by reference to the number of copies sold in any market, copies of a newspaper which is distributed free of charge (rather than sold) which are distributed in that market shall be taken into account as if they had been sold.".'.

Better regulation principles to apply in relation to newspaper mergers

Mr John Whittingdale
Mr John Greenway
Mr Andrew Robathan
Mr Mark Hoban

NC23

To move the following Clause:—

'The following section shall be inserted in the Enterprise Act 2002 after section 119—

"119A. Application of better regulation principles

In carrying out their functions under this Part in respect of newspaper mergers, the OFT and OFCOM shall have regard to the principles under which regulatory activities should be transparent, accountable, proportionate, consistent and targeted only at cases in which action is needed.".'.

Restricted covenants affecting freehold property

Mr John Whittingdale
Mr John Greenway
Mr Andrew Robathan
Mr Mark Hoban

NC24

To move the following Clause:—

'(1) This section applies where by virtue of a restrictive covenant the owner of any premises is restricted, either absolutely or to any extent—

(a) in choosing an electronic communications services or a supplier of such services, or

(b) with respect to any other electronic communications matter.

(2) Where this section applies, the covenant, to the extent that it restricts the owner of premises as mentioned in subsection (1)—

(a) if it requires the consent of any person to be obtained before anything to which the restriction relates is done, shall have effect as if it required that consent not to be unreasonably withheld;

(b) in any other case, shall have effect as if it required the consent of the person entitled to the benefit of the restrictive covenant to be obtained to the doing of anything to which the restriction relates and as if it required that consent not to be unreasonably withheld.

(3) Subsections (5) to (7) of section 130 shall apply in relation to a restriction falling within subsection (2) of this section as those subsections apply in relation to a prohibition or restriction falling within subsection (1) or (2) of section 130.

(4) This section applies to restrictive covenants whenever made, but shall not apply to a covenant in existence before the commencement of this section if OFCOM by order excludes such covenants from this section.

(5) Section 388 applies to the powers of OFCOM to make orders under this section.'.

Investigation of BBC by the National Audit Office

Mr John Whittingdale
Mr John Greenway
Mr Andrew Robathan
Mr Mark Hoban

NC25

To move the following Clause:—

'In part 2 of Schedule 4 to the National Audit Office Act 1983 (c. 44), the words "the British Broadcasting Corporation" shall be omitted.'.

Comptroller's report on BBC

Mr John Whittingdale
Mr John Greenway
Mr Andrew Robathan
Mr Mark Hoban

NC26

To move the following Clause:—

'(1) It shall be the duty of the Comptroller—

(a) as soon as practicable after the period of twelve months beginning with the commencement of this section; and

(b) as soon as practicable after the end of each subsequent period as may be selected by the Comptroller for the purposes of this section

to fulfil the review and reporting obligations.

(2) The period selected by the Comptroller for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) must be a period of not more than three years beginning with the end of the previous period for which the Comptroller have satisfied those reviews and reporting obligations.

(3) The review and reporting obligations for a period are—:

(a) an obligation to carry out an examination into the efficiency, economy and effectiveness of the BBC's services;

(b) an obligation to prepare and publish a report on the matters found on the review.

(4) Subsection (3) shall not be construed as entitling the Comptroller to question the merits of the policy objectives of the BBC's services.

(5) In this section—

"BBC's services" means the television and radio broadcast services provided by the BBC;

"the Comptroller" means the Comptroller and Auditor General as identified in section 3(1)(a) of the National Audit Act 1983.'.

Conditions to secure access to public teletext service

Nick Harvey
Mr Richard Allan

NC27

To move the following Clause:—

'The regulatory regime for the public teletext service includes the conditions that OFCOM considers appropriate for securing that the provision of so much of the public teletext service as is provided in digital form is accessible to persons who are blind and partially sighted.'.

Meaning of 'initial expiry date'

Mr Stephen Timms
Dr Kim Howells

NC28

To move the following Clause:—

'(1) Subject to any postponement under this section, the date which is the initial expiry date for the purposes of this Part is 31st December 2014.

(2) The Secretary of State may (on one or more occasions) by order postpone the initial expiry date.

(3) The Secretary of State's power to postpone the initial expiry date—

(a) is to be exercisable before 30th June 2013 only if he has fixed a date after 30th June 2013 as the date for digital switchover; and

(b) is not to be exercisable on or after 30th June 2013 if he has fixed 30th June 2013 or an earlier date as the date for digital switchover.

(4) Where the Secretary of State makes an order under this section at a time after he has fixed a date for digital switchover, the date to which the initial expiry date is postponed must be a date not less than eighteen months after the date for digital switchover.

(5) The Secretary of State must exercise his power to postpone the initial expiry date if it at any time appears to him that that date would otherwise fall within the period of eighteen months immediately following the date fixed for digital switchover.

(6) Where an order under this section extends a licensing period for which a licence has been granted in accordance with section 209 or 214, the 1990 Act and this Part shall have effect (subject to subsection (7)) as if the licence had originally been granted for the extended period.

(7) Where an order under this section extends the period for which a licence is to continue in force—

(a) that order shall not affect the earliest time at which an application for the renewal of that licence may be made in accordance with section 211(2)(a) or 217(2)(a);

(b) as soon as reasonably practicable after making the order, OFCOM must make such modification of any determination made by them in the case of that licence for the purposes of section 211(2)(b) or 217(2)(b) as they consider appropriate in consequence of the extension; and

(8) In this section a reference to the date for digital switchover is a reference to the date fixed by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this section as the date which appears to him, in consequence of directions given by him for the purposes of the conditions of the licences for the relevant public broadcasting services, to be the date after which none of those services will be broadcast to any significant extent in analogue form.

(9) In this section "the relevant public broadcasting service" means any of the following—

(a) the services comprised in Channel 3; and

(b) Channel 5.'.

Power to confer further functions on OFCOM relating to the BBC

Mr John Whittingdale
Mr John Greenway
Mr Andrew Robathan
Mr Mark Hoban

NC29

To move the following Clause:—

'(1) The Secretary of State may by order amend this Act to such extent as he considers appropriate to give effect to the provisions of—

(a) any Royal Charter granted to the BBC after the commencement date;

(b) any licence granted by the Secretary of State to the BBC after that date;

(2) In subsection (1) "the commencement date" means the date of commencement of section 193.

(3) An order under this section shall not be made unless a draft of the order has been laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House.'.