HC Deb 01 July 1996 vol 280 cc563-5

'.After section 106 of the 1990 Act there is inserted— "Variation of local licence following change of control

106A.—(1) Any local licence granted to a body corporate before the commencement of this section shall be taken to include—

  1. (a) a condition requiring the body to give the Authority advance notice of any proposals known to the body that may give rise to a relevant change of control, and
  2. (b) a condition requiring the body to provide the Authority, in such manner and at such times as they may reasonably require, with such information as they may require for the purposes of exercising their functions under subsection (3).

(2) Subsection (3) applies in relation to any local licence which—

  1. (a) was granted before the commencement of this section,
  2. (b) is held by a body corporate, and
  3. (c) has not previously been varied under that subsection.

(3) Where, in relation to any local licence to which this subsection applies—

  1. (a) the Authority receive notice, in pursuance of a condition imposed under subsection (1) or section 88(2)(d), of any proposals that may give rise to a relevant change of control, or
  2. (b) a relevant change of control takes place (whether or not that change has been previously notified to the Authority),

the Authority may vary the licence, by a notice served on the licence holder, so as to include in the licence such conditions as they consider appropriate for the purpose of ensuring that the character of the local service is maintained after the relevant change of control.

(4) Subject to subsection (5), any new or varied condition imposed under subsection (3) in relation to any matter may be more onerous than any existing condition imposed under section 106(1) in relation to that matter; and in this subsection "existing condition" means a condition of the licence as it has effect, or had effect, before the relevant change of control.

(5) The Authority may not under subsection (3) include any new or varied condition in a licence unless the new condition or the condition as varied is one which (with any necessary modifications) would have been satisfied by the licence holder—

  1. (a) during the three months immediately before the relevant date, or
  2. (b) if the Authority consider that the performance of the licence holder during that period is not typical of its performance during the twelve months before the relevant date, during such other period of three months during those twelve months as they may notify in writing to the licence holder;

and for the purposes of this subsection "the relevant date" is the date of the relevant change of control or, if earlier, the date on which the Authority exercise their powers under subsection (3).

(6) The Authority shall not serve a notice on any body under subsection (3) unless they have given it a reasonable opportunity of making representations to them about the variation.

(7) Where, in any case falling within paragraph (a) of subsection (3), a notice under that subsection is served before the change to which it relates takes place, the variation shall not take effect until the change to which it relates takes place.

(8) The power in subsection (1) of section 106 to vary conditions imposed under that subsection includes power to vary conditions imposed under subsection (3).

(9) In this section "relevant change of control" means a change in the persons having control over the body holding the licence." '—[Mr. Sprout.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

Mr. Sproat

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

The new clause arises from the commitment that I gave in Committee on 21 May to discuss with the Radio Authority what further safeguards might be necessary following our liberalisation of the ownership of local radio licences.

A number of hon. Members expressed concern that our liberalisation could lead to predators purchasing existing licensees simply to use that licence to transfer an existing AM service on to digital. We are confident that the promises of performance attached to licences can be rigorously enforced to prevent that, and I point to the Radio Authority's recent imposing of fines on a number of stations that failed to remain within the terms of their promises as evidence.

However, the Radio Authority expressed concern that many of the existing promises of performance were drafted in general terms when there were tighter limits on the ownership of more than one station in a local area. The authority pointed out that such promises might not be a sufficient safeguard against the concerns that hon. Members had raised. The new clause will therefore enable the authority to revise local licences upon a change of control in order to write tighter promises of performance that accurately reflect the character of the station's output immediately before the change of control.

I stress that the new clause contains the minimum powers necessary for the authority to update promises of performance in the light of the more liberal ownership regime introduced by the Bill. The authority's power applies only to licences issued before the ownership liberalisation takes place and licences can be varied only on one occasion. The new clause, which the authority has welcomed, balances strengthening licences drafted in a tighter ownership regime with the Bill's deregulatory spirit.

Dr. Moonie

We welcome the Government's new clause. A very long list of amendments has been made, and it is interesting how often the Government have taken account of comments made by hon. Members of all parties. Like the Minister, I commend the new clause to my hon. Friends.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.

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