§ Mr. Andrew MacKayasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the levy relief granted to the independent television companies in respect of the increased costs of Welsh language broadcasting attributable to the requirements of part II of the Broadcasting Act 1981.
§ Mr. BrittanSection 39(3) of the Broadcasting Act 1981 enables me, in deciding whether to vary the rates of the additional payments (the ITV levy) under section 32 of the Act, 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. After consultation with the IBA, and with the approval of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, I have concluded that the profits of each television programme contractor which are not subject to levy should remain for 1983–84 at the level of £650,000 or 2.8 per cent. of advertising receipts, whichever is the greater.