§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is proposing to take to include provision for the deaf in his new Broadcasting Bill.
§ Mr. Mellor[holding answer 7 December 1989]: The Government believe that it is important for there to be proper provision of broadcasting services for the deaf and hard of hearing. As a consequence, Channel 3 licence holders will, in the first year of the licence, be required to provide 10 per cent. more hours of subtitling than was achieved on average by the TV companies in the previous year. The Channel 5 licensee will have to provide a similar proportion of subtitled programmes. The ITC will thereafter set a reasonable target each year for an increase in subtitling on Channel 3 and 5 services.
The BBC and Channel 4 will continue to be bound by public service commitments and therefore can be expected to continue to provide subtitling. The BBC is working towards the time when nearly all pre-recorded peak-time programmes will carry subtitles.