Clause 4 - Functions of existing regulators
Office of Communications Bill [Lords]
11:45 am
Mr Michael Fabricant (Lichfield, Conservative)
I rise to support the amendments, primarily for a reason that my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of York has not cited. Clause 4 (1)(b), (c), (d) and (5), which the amendments would strike from the Bill, are somewhat redundant in relation to the rest of clause 4. Without them, it would simply read:
''The functions of each of the existing regulators''—
defined in clause 6 as the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the Director General of Communications, the Independent Television Commission and the Radio Authority—
''shall (subject to subsection (4)) include—
(a) a duty to do everything that is necessary for facilitating the implementation of any relevant proposals about the regulation of communications''.
Given the all-embracing nature of subsection (1) and (1)(a), there is no great need for paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) and subsection (5); unless, of course, my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of York was right that there are additional reasons that will not necessarily help the industry.
It is useful to consider one by one the parts of the clause that the amendments would delete. Amendment No. 43 would remove paragraph (b), which, as my hon. Friend said, seeks to muzzle the existing regulators—[Interruption.]