Broadcasting

Debate between Andrew Bridgen and Karen Bradley

Tuesday 18th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Karen Bradley]

My hon. Friend exactly sums up the position.

The longer—11-year—royal charter will separate charter renewal from the electoral cycle, which has been widely welcomed. I reiterate that the mid-term review after six years will be a health check, not another charter review in all but name. It is surely eminently sensible to check how effectively new arrangements are working before 11 years have gone by. Moreover, article 57 of the charter states:

“The review must not consider…the mission of the BBC;…the Public Purposes of the BBC; or…the licence fee funding model of the BBC for the period of this Charter.”

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that there will be a further huge change in viewing habits from traditional television to online and on-demand viewing over the 11-year charter renewal period? Will she consider decriminalising non-payment of the TV licence for viewing the iPlayer and will she in effect implement decriminalising non-payment of the TV licence over the charter renewal period, which would be widely supported and welcomed?

[Karen Bradley]

I know my hon. Friend has campaigned strongly on this issue, and I understand the point he makes.

I will go through some further points about the new charter. The BBC will be regulated more effectively under it. The charter and agreement set out Ofcom’s new role as the BBC’s independent regulator. Ofcom will monitor and review how well the BBC meets its mission and public purposes, regulate editorial standards, hold the BBC to account on market impacts and public value, and consider relevant complaints from viewers, listeners and other stakeholders where complainants are not satisfied with resolution by the BBC.

draft Modern Slavery Act 2015 (Transparency in supply chains) Regulations 2015

Debate between Andrew Bridgen and Karen Bradley

Monday 19th October 2015 General Committees

[Karen Bradley]

I thank the hon. Lady for her comments, particularly those on the Modern Slavery Act 2015. She was an active member of the Bill Committee, and I agree that the Act is better legislation as a result of the extensive consultation and collaborative work from across the House.

The hon. Lady discussed what must be included in the scope of the declaration. We will, of course, issue guidance to accompany the regulations. We have again consulted widely with business and business organisations to ensure that the guidance is relevant and appropriate. One of the biggest issues we found was that, although businesses were crying out for legislation on slavery and people trafficking, they were also concerned about how they could implement the requirements of such legislation. We therefore worked with businesses to ensure that the guidance reflects that and to give them the support that they need. Ultimately, it is for businesses to ensure that consumers know what they are doing and what they are buying, so we feel it is right to leave a degree of flexibility. Consumers, NGOs and others will push to ensure that the race to the top that we hope to see does actually happen.

The hon. Lady asked about small companies. She is right that we did not want to impose an unnecessary burden on them, but let us be clear that there is no place for slavery in any supply chain. Although the legislative obligation is on large companies—those with a turnover of more than £36 million—we do expect small companies to look for slavery and ensure that there is none in their supply chains.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend the Minister agree that a lot of small companies will be part of the supply chain for large companies, so they will be covered under the legislation?

[Karen Bradley]

I thank my hon. Friend, who makes the exact point I was coming to. There are many small companies in the supply chain. On the whole, the small companies that are the lifeblood of industry in my constituency are suppliers to the larger business that will be reporting and will expect those smaller companies to provide the information required to make appropriate and user-friendly reports.

This legislation is about putting power in the hands of the consumer and saying to the British public that they will have a groundbreaking provision that will help them to make informed decisions about whether they want to buy goods from businesses that do not take the issue seriously. Businesses themselves can come out and be proud of the work that they are doing to ensure that there is no slavery in the supply chain. I am confident that the regulations will help to ensure that the UK is, and is seen to be, the world leader that we are on modern slavery.

Question put and agreed to.