Office of Communications Bill [HL]

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 5:30 pm on 29 October 2001.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Lord Dubs Lord Dubs Chair of Labour Peers 5:30, 29 October 2001

I assume that these are probing amendments. I doubt whether they would stand the test of logic if the noble Viscount were to push them further. Nevertheless, they represent certain strands of thinking about which I should like to express my concerns.

Perhaps I may deal first with Amendment No. 3. It refers to representing the interests of the public. If members of Ofcom are to represent specific interests, that will detract from what I believe to be their overall responsibility; namely, to be concerned about the needs of the public. If we delegate the responsibility of representing the public to only one individual, the concept of Ofcom will be significantly weakened. I do not like the word "represent"; it is misleading--the more so in Amendment No. 5, which refers to representation of a whole range of interests. Does that mean that if an individual is selected for Ofcom because he or she happens to represent a particular interest, that is why the person is there? Or is it the case, as I should prefer, that the overall responsibility of Ofcom is to take account of diversity, regional interests, the disabled and so on? I should much prefer that members of Ofcom were collectively charged with a wide range of responsibilities, as indicated in the amendment, rather than their having a representative function.

I am one of 10 members of the Broadcasting Standards Commission. I welcome the fact that Ofcom will be smaller--although I trust that it will have other committees to deal with more specialised areas. The Broadcasting Standards Commission has members from Scotland and Wales and from the ethnic communities. But they do not sit there saying that they represent Wales, or Scotland, or the black Afro-Caribbean community. They act collectively with others, but they bring their particular background and experience to bear. That is the benefit, rather than having a sense of "representation". Frankly, even if Ofcom had 12 members, it would not be large enough to encompass all the diverse elements that ought to be its responsibility.