§ Mr. SteelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his response to the hon. Member for Clydebank and Milngavie (Mr. Worthington) of 19 May,Official Report, column 602, what assessment he has undertaken of the suitability for export of television programmes produced within Scotland; and what steps he is undertaking to encourage independent Scottish television producers to export material.
§ Mr. RentonIn the exchanges to which the right hon. Member refers, I was offering a possible explanation for the point raised by the hon. Member for Clydebank and Milngavie about the relatively low proportion of programming produced by Scottish independent producers which was networked in other parts of the United Kingdom. My argument was simply that, in the end, successful programme producers will be those who respond to the demands of those who commission programmes and, ultimately, those who view them.
As to the steps being taken to encourage Scottish independent producers, the broadcasting White Paper sets out the Government's intention to require that a minimum of 25 per cent. of programmes produced for Channels 3, 4 and 5 and DBS must come from independent producers, and it will be open to Scottish producers to compete for these new opportunities that will be made available. I have also welcomed the suggestion of the chairman of the IBA that Channel 5 should be based in a production centre north of Birmingham, since the new channel can be expected to encourage and foster a new local industry in independent production.