Channel 4

Lord Hamilton of Epsom Excerpts

Thursday 10th December 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (LD)]

My Lords—

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords—

[The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston) (Con)]

My Lords, on this occasion I think the House would like to hear from the noble Baroness, Lady Bonham-Carter.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

My Lords, we are looking at Channel 4 objectively to see whether it is meeting its remit properly and whether there are changes that need to be made to the remit or its distribution. Of course, as the Prime Minister said, we need to ensure that the great channel goes on being great for many years to come. It is perfectly okay to review things.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom]

My Lords, is it not possible that if Channel 4 was privatised, it might be run more efficiently and have even more money to spend on quality programmes?

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

My noble friend is entirely right that looking at how things can be run efficiently—taking advantage of technological advances, for example—is a key point in the kinds of reviews that we do in the media sector.