Digital Economy Bill

Lord Grade of Yarmouth Excerpts

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

[Lord Grade of Yarmouth (Con)]

My Lords, I draw your Lordships’ attention to my registered interests, such as they are these days at my great age.

I thoroughly welcome the Bill. It is a bold attempt to do what legislation rarely does: to keep pace with technology. Technology is moving so fast, and this is a bold attempt to try to get legislation in line with what is happening in the real digital world. I welcome it for that, and I have no doubt that the importance of the Bill will become more apparent than it already is during its progress through this House, given the level of expertise that we have already heard—and we are not halfway through this debate.

While it is fresh in what passes for my mind, I pick up on a point made by the noble Lord, Lord Lester, and his ambitions for statutory underpinning for the BBC. As a former chairman of the BBC, I have some experience in these matters. This is not the time, but there will come a moment in Committee and after to debate in detail the case that he outlined today. I just ask your Lordships to remember one thing. Whatever arguments we may have about the way the BBC is structured, governed and so on, I think we can all agree that it remains independent. I do not think there is any doubt in the public’s mind that the BBC is independent. The cornerstone which underpins that independence is that there is never a vote in either House on the detail of the management or governance of the BBC. That separation—the royal charter and the agreement—has stood the BBC in very good stead.

The best defence of the BBC’s independence is its staff, in the first instance, and the British public—who would be very angry indeed. Indeed, I walked out with the staff on a famous occasion back in the 1980s because there was an attempt at political interference with the editorial processes at the BBC. I do not think there is any doubt that the BBC is more than capable of defending its own independence. The last thing it needs is statutory underpinning because, as we all know, statutes can be overturned in Parliament. I look forward to the debate with the noble Lord.

There is an old saying in Westminster and Whitehall that nothing endures like the temporary. In 1988, a Bill became an Act which was an attempt to prop up, ensure and help the fledgling and very fragmented cable sector which was in its first throes of expansion and growth—and it was a perfectly sensible piece of short-term legislation at the time. It has endured since 1988, and I am thrilled to see that the Government have finally listened to the argument and seek in this Bill to repeal Section 73 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. It is good news indeed. The public service broadcasting sector of this country needs every penny that it can get today—and that includes not only the BBC but Channel 4, Channel 5 and ITV. They are under threat from so many different directions and are leaking value all the time through copyright infringements by Google and others. They are leaking value because they are in deep competition with the internet for advertising; internet advertising has now overtaken broadcasting revenues for the first time. They are under threat everywhere, and it is absolutely crucial that we scavenge every penny that we can and protect their ability to invest in content. The creative industry is one of the few sectors of the British economy that has gone on growing through periods of recession, and we must continue to do that. This measure is very much welcome.

I was somewhat depressed to hear that there may be what have been euphemistically called transitional arrangements, which may delay the repeal for a couple of years. I can see no reason whatever for that delay, and I look forward to hearing from the Minister at the appropriate time why they have suddenly decided that there needs to be some transitional arrangement. Pace the BBC, the arrangements should be left to the free market to determine and, in the event of a dispute, Ofcom is more than capable of stepping in, banging heads together and sorting it out. If you look at the American broadcasting sector, you can see that companies such as 21st Century Fox rely heavily on retransmission fees from the cable networks in America, which are more than capable of paying fees for content that has been invested in by other people. So the argument is well made and has obviously been heard by the Government. I would be very interested to see why we need any form of transitional arrangements other than to appease the giant cable companies that now exist through consolidation. It is no longer a fragmented and embryonic sector; it is a mature and very wealthy sector.

On broadband, there is a lot of talk about speed and reach, but anybody who ever has to drive anywhere in central London and tries to use their phone suffers the same problems that people do in rural areas. Coverage is absolutely shocking; we are way behind countries such as South Korea, and so on, where the wi-fi works at 100 megabits on the underground, in the street or wherever you go. I drive from Wandsworth to the West End every day, and I cannot get a signal for a phone call, never mind the internet. I do not phone when I am driving, I hasten to add—just in case. So there needs to be some concentration and emphasis on improving coverage, even in urban areas. If we are trying to get people to come off the roads and use public transport, for goodness’ sake give us what we need, which is internet connectivity, which might go some way to improving productivity, on which so many of us rely. So many businesses and people involved in wealth creation and so on rely to such a great extent on connectivity, so please give it to us as well as looking after the cottage at the end of the lane.

One of the great surprises of my broadcasting career has been the success and efficiency of Ofcom. Against all my better judgment in the early days, it has turned out to be a super-efficient and very effective regulator of so many different aspects of vital parts of our life. Ofcom has an increasing role to play and it is time it had oversight of the BBC. This is a sensible solution. We have been through a transitional phase—one that I can support—and Ofcom is now more than capable of managing the BBC’s affairs in the way that is described in the Bill. It is a very good thing and I look forward to it happening.

Ofcom has an incredibly different task in reallocating frequencies. There is huge pent-up demand for this valuable national resource. I declare an interest as I am involved in live theatre productions. The theatre community, broadcast, film and conference facility industries are all very concerned about the effect of the reallocation of frequencies on radio mics. I know that the department and Ofcom are very involved but there is no solution yet. This is vital to tourism and the creative industries in this country and I hope we can get to a solution. The importance of the Bill is going to be enhanced by the debates in your Lordships’ Chamber, to which I am looking forward.