§ Mr. TimmsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what measures he takes to ensure that the decisions of the Advertising Standards Authority reflect public concerns on matters of taste and decency; [30194]
(2) what monitoring he routinely undertakes of the Advertising Standards Authority. [30198]
Mr. John M. TaylorThe Advertising Standards Authority is independent of Government. It supervises an agreed code of practice under which the advertising industry is self-regulated to ensure that the system works in the pubic interest and to publicly acceptable standards.
The authority assesses advertisements according to the standards of taste and decency generally accepted at present in the United Kingdom. The authority will be conducting research into current public attitudes on taste and decency during this year.
My Department maintains regular contact with the authority, raising with it matters of concern as considered necessary.