Digital Economy Bill

Lord Low of Dalston Excerpts

2nd reading (Hansard): House of Lords
Tuesday 13th December 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Low of Dalston (CB)]

My Lords, I speak briefly about two issues that have been brought to my attention and that concern me—the listed events regime and the prominence in electronic programming guides given to particular public service broadcasting channels and services. I welcome the fact that the noble Lords, Lord Stevenson, Lord Foster, Lord Gordon and—most recently—Lord Storey, all referred to one or both of those matters already, but I hope that it will do no harm if I deal with them as well. Before I do, I must say that I welcome the Minister saying that he will bring forward an amendment to deal with hearing-impaired subtitling. Will that cover audio description as well? If there is any doubt about that, perhaps the Minister would be prepared to meet me to talk about the matter.

The listed events regime is hugely important to millions of people who enjoy watching sport, from the FA Cup final and the World Cup finals to Wimbledon finals and the Olympics. These major sporting events bring people together, united in support of their team, their country or just their favourite player. Everyone can be a part, no matter who they are, how old they are or whether they are disabled. During the Olympics earlier this year, I am sure that no day passed in any workplace without people talking about how exciting the diving was the previous night, how nervous they were about that night’s 100-metre final or how proud they were that Team GB did so exceptionally well overall. Likewise, Wimbledon brings out the competitive spirit, with friendly office sweepstakes held up and down the land, while “Match of the Day” brings friends and families together to watch the day’s highlights and to celebrate or commiserate.

Without the listed events regime, more sporting events would almost certainly move away from free-to-air television, excluding many people from watching and being part of national events. Far from uniting families, friends, colleagues and even strangers, losing the listed events regime would divide people into those who can afford to pay and those who cannot. As noble Lords have recognised on many occasions, families all over the country already struggle to pay their bills. It is hardly going too far to say that to do anything other than upgrade the listed events regime would simply be to promote inequality. We have to protect the listed events regime to allow people to watch Andy Murray lift the Wimbledon trophy and to be a part of Team GB winning another record medal haul in 2020.

The listed events regime has been a success, which is why I am worried that it is now at risk. I understand that the public sector broadcasters agree about that risk—they agree that an update to the legislation is needed and believe that this Bill could help with that. What plans are there to ensure that this legislation is updated to protect something that has considerable importance for all of us?

The second issue that I am concerned about and believe that the Bill could help address is the prominence given to particular public service broadcasting channels and services. I know from first-hand experience and from talking to others how frustrating electronic programme guides and user interfaces can be. Navigating one’s way through and finding a particular channel can be challenging to say the least, and people with a sensory impairment find it particularly difficult. Interfaces are all different and different programming guides have channels in a different order. Finding BBC News or BBC Parliament on the iPlayer can take a considerable time. If we believe in the value of public service broadcasting, it should be easily accessible. The BBC produces some of the most informative and highest-quality programmes in the United Kingdom and as licence fee payers we should all be able to find BBC channels and programmes more easily than we can now.

In its 2013 report on media convergence, your Lordships’ Communications Committee called for legislation on prominence to be updated to take into account how people now access content, including on-demand content such as the BBC iPlayer. I believe that the Bill provides a vehicle for doing that by updating existing legislation. Does the Minister agree that this is an issue and what solution does he have in mind? Depending on his answers to the questions that I have asked, I may wish to return to these matters in Committee with amendments.