Ofcom: Public Service Broadcasting

Lord Puttnam Excerpts

Wednesday 12th June 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

The intention is to provide more flexibility in the timing of when reviews of public service broadcasting are conducted. It is certainly not the intention to remove the obligation to conduct such reviews in future, but rather to ensure that when they happen they are relevant, timely and of the correct scope. Of course, I must not prejudge the consultation. There are some more weeks of it to go and comments would be most welcome.

[Lord Puttnam]

My Lords, does the Minister accept that, whereas the quality of regulation in this country over the past few years has been at times questionable, Ofcom is, in my experience, regarded internationally as the gold standard for regulation, particularly in the very complex media industry? Can he assure us that nothing will be done to diminish the quality of Ofcom or in any way reduce its powers?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

I am most grateful to the noble Lord and am particularly conscious of his long-term interest in this, having been so much involved in the setting up of Ofcom. I assure him that Ofcom will be required to ensure that the quota requirements are met by the public service broadcasting sector, whether in news, current affairs, original productions, independent productions, outside-London productions or regional news. It must also publish data on compliance with the above quotas in an annual PSB report. The Government are working closely with Ofcom, which we want to continue to be a very successful organisation.