Office of Communications Bill [Lords]
5:00 pm
Mr Michael Fabricant (Lichfield, Conservative)
Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. I understand the point made by the hon. Member for North Devon (Nick Harvey), but I am not sure that the House feels itself to be so bound—I am unsure whether there is a debate every year. If that is the case, it must be said that the provision has no meaning, and I am uncomfortable with amendment No. 24 for that reason.
I support the observation made by the hon. Member for North Devon about the number of people to be employed by Ofcom. Will the Minister indicate to the Committee whether he envisages that Ofcom will employ 1,111 people? If it does, it will be nothing like the Federal Communications Commission, which employs a tiny fraction of that number. He said earlier that the FCC was a good model to follow because it is a light regulator, but if 1,111 people are to be employed, they will want to be employed, and that means they will regulate.
On Thursday the Minister rightly chastised me for accidentally using the word ''regulate''. There is a danger that far from creating a light touch regime, we shall end up with Ofcom becoming a mighty interventionist behemoth.