HC Deb 10 May 1993 vol 224 c489
12. Ms Quin

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what plans he has to review the television franchise system.

Mr. Brooke

It is too early to consider changes to the arrangements which came into effect at the beginning of the year, but I shall keep the working of the Broadcasting Act 1990 under review.

Ms. Quin

Does the Minister agree that the crazy auction system by which the franchises were allocated has already led to severe problems, particularly in the case of Tyne Tees Television? Is he aware of the great concern in the north-east of England about job losses at Tyne Tees, about the failure to deliver the regional programmes that were promised and the effect on the region's media industry, which many of us want to see expand? What specific steps will he take to resolve the matter?

Mr. Brooke

The hon. Lady takes a more pessimistic view of the working of the Act and of the health of the federal system than other, more objective, critics might. I made it clear on 6 May, in answer to a question that she tabled, that the Independent Television Commission was looking at the Yorkshire-Tyne Tees merger and its consequences, and I look forward to its report.

Mrs. Clwyd

Does the Minister care about broken franchise promises and companies using every ruse in the book to deny the truth to the ITC? Is it not a fact that the Broadcasting Act 1990 has led to a big increase in acquired programmes, with the obligation to produce 86 per cent. of programmes falling to only 65 per cent., with worse to come? Surely even the Minister must realise that the Act will result in less innovation and a narrower range of programmes for viewers. That must call for some concern from him.

Mr. Brooke

I yield to none in wishing to sustain the production base of television and broadcasting in this country. It underlay the Green Paper that we issued on the BBC last November, and I regard it as important in national and international terms. The hon. Lady constantly tempts me to interfere with the ITC, which has responsibility under the Act, and, in the process, interfere with the arm's-length principle which governs most of the activities in which my Department is engaged and which we regard as an admirable part of the British system. The hon. Lady would do more justice to her overall position if she did not constantly ask me to interfere in matters of particulars.