Clause 3 - Management of OFCOM
Office of Communications Bill [Lords]
10:30 am
Mrs Anne McIntosh (Vale of York, Conservative)
That will certainly make me sleep easier at night. However, it is important not only that their relations should be harmonious but that the Bill should specify their precise nature.
The final principle that the better regulation taskforce sets out is targeting. First, it states that:
''Regulations should be aimed at the problem and avoid a scattergun approach . . . Where possible, a goals-based approach should be used, with the enforcers and those being regulated given flexibility in deciding how best to achieve clear, unambiguous targets.''
Again, we come back to consultation. Ofcom is to prepare for its main task of replacing the regulators under the shadow of the imminent communications Bill, but we are not told what the relationship between Ofcom and the regulators is to be. The Minister did not respond warmly, coolly or even lukewarmly when I expressed the fear that for a year or 18 months we will have six regulators—the existing five plus Ofcom—rather than the existing five being replaced by Ofcom.