§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he takes to monitor assurances given to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission in respect of newspaper takeovers and purchases.
§ Mr. HowardI refer my hon. Friend to the reply to his earlier questions on 10 April, at column 429. Assurances552W given to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission have no statutory under-pinning and are not monitored. In the two instances where conditional consent was granted to a newspaper transfer, the conditions of the consent required certain changes in the articles of association of the companies concerned and that these should be agreed by the Secretary of State before the transfer could take place. These changes primarily provided for questions directed at editorial independence to be considered by independent directors appointed for the purpose; in any disputes concerning editorial independence the decisions of the independent directors are final and binding.
Other conditions require the Secretary of State's prior consent if certain further changes are proposed to the articles of association of the companies.
Breach of conditions attached to a transfer would constitute an offence under section 62(2) of the Fair Trading Act 1973. My Department would consider carefully any allegations concerning breaches of such conditions.