Clause 14 - Duty to publish and take account of research
Communications Bill
4:30 pm
Dr Kim Howells (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Pontypridd, Labour)
I am confident that they do comply with that Act. We were very careful about this matter.
I welcome the hon. Gentleman's point that there are times when there will be a need for confidentiality, and one of the best things about sectoral regulators is that they have managed to do that successfully.
We want Ofcom to be as transparent as possible in the way that it operates, and clause 14 is part of our commitment to that. Placing Ofcom under a duty to publish the results of any research carried out by it or on its behalf under clause 13 ensures that all interested parties will be able to consider the same information to which Ofcom has access. I have to disappoint the hon. Gentleman by reiterating that that is limited to clause 13 so far as this part of the Bill is concerned, with the proviso that confidentiality will be protected—clause 14 (2), (3) and (4) prevent the publication of anything confidential.