§ Mr. Abseasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he proposes to make any changes in 135W the rates of additional payments made by the television programme contractors of the Independent Broadcasting Authority following the agreement between that authority and the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority as to the amount that will be made available to the latter Authority for the period up to 31 March 1983; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Bestasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the finances of the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority, and about any consequential levy relief for the independent television companies under section 16 of the Broadcasting Act 1980.
§ Mr. WhitelawI have been informed by the chairman of the IBA and the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority—Awdurdod Sianel 4 Cymru—that the authorities have agreed that the sum to be paid for the period to the end of the financial year 1982–83 to meet the reasonable outgoings of the Welsh Fourth Channel—S. 4C.—under section 15(1) of the Broadcasting Act 1980, will be £20 million. The Welsh Fourth Channel Authority will be enabled on this basis to plan ahead and to commission programmes in preparation to start broadcasting in November 1982. The two authorities are considering the position for subsequent years.
Section 16 of the 1980 Act enables me in deciding whether, and if so by how much, to vary the rates of the additional payments—the levy—under section 26 of the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act 1973, as amended, to have regard to the increased payments to be made by the programme contractors to the IBA in respect of the cost of the fourth channel in Wales. With my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and after consultation with the IBA, I have decided to lay an order before Parliament during the next session which will have the effect that, as from 1 April 1982, the profits of each programme contractor which would not be subject to levy would be increased to £650,000—instead of £250,000—or 2.8 per cent.—instead of 2.0 per cent.—of advertising receipts, whichever is the greater. I believe that this adjustment is fair and takes appropriate account, in the context of the present estimates of the likely revenue and expenditure of the programme contractors in 1982–83 which have been made available to me by the IBA, of the increased costs of Welsh language broadcasting which will fall upon them in respect of the requirements of part III of the 1980 Act.
My intention is that this adjustment should last for one year in the first instance and the position will therefore be reviewed in the course of 1982–83 in the light of the more up-to-date information on the financial position of the programme contractors and the reasonable outgoings of the fourth channel in Wales which will by then be available.
I should also make it clear, however, that if there were to be a marked improvement in the financial position of programme contractors in 1982–83 as compared with the present estimates, I should need to consider with my right hon. and learned Friend and after consultation with the IBA, proposing further adjustments to the levy, to take effect on or after 1 April 1983, to recoup any income unjustifiably forgone by the Exchequer.