§ Mr. CurryTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, having regard to the proposed exemption of BSB from the Council of Europe convention and to the decision taken at the meeting of EEC Ministers on 13 March, permitting member states to exempt national broadcasting channels with no overspill into other territories from the directive's provisions on the insertion and amount of advertising, he will establish a uniform set of controls for all United Kingdom broadcasters.
§ Mr. RentonThe Council of Europe convention on transfrontier television does not apply to British Satellite Broadcasting, since BSB is not involved in broadcasting across frontiers. Nonetheless, BSB will have to comply with the IBA's rules on advertising. As to the control of broadcast advertising in the longer term, this is a matter which we shall be considering in the light of responses to the White Paper on broadcasting.
§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many representations have been received by his Department from television companies, in response to the White Paper on the future of broadcasting;
811W(2) how many representations have been received from television companies concerning the future of regional television with regard to the White Paper on broadcasting.
§ Mr. RentonWe have so far received nearly 3,000 responses, and a few late ones are still coming in. We have it in mind in due course to place in the Library a list of the main organisations which have responded. The proposals in the White Paper that regional Channel 3 franchises should be required to show regional programming including programmes produced in the region, and that the Independent Television Commission should be responsible for deciding on the geographical division of Channel 3, have been generally welcomed.