Clause 6 - Duties to review regulatory burdens
Communications Bill
11:15 am
Dr Kim Howells (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Pontypridd, Labour)
We want Ofcom to be an example of good regulatory practice. Clause 6 is one of the clauses that enshrines that principle. It puts in place a mechanism to ensure that regulatory burdens are
kept to a minimum, and that that minimum is the one that is necessary to achieve Ofcom's objectives. The mechanism is straightforward and transparent. Subsection (1) requires Ofcom to review its activities in order to ensure that it is not imposing or maintaining unnecessary regulations. Under subsections (4) to (6), it must publish a series of statements setting out how it intends to secure that requirement over successive 12-month periods. Subsection (8) gives Ofcom the flexibility to revise the statement if necessary.
Amendment No. 128 would require Ofcom to seek the views of industry on which of its functions should be reviewed. I am wary of putting in the Bill a specific reference to industry but not to other groups, including consumers, who are likely to have views. Ofcom needs to be inclusive and receptive to the needs of all of its stakeholders.