§ Lord Lyellasked Her Majesty's Government:
What proposals they have for reviewing press self-regulation.
Viscount AstorWhen the report of the Committee on Privacy and Related Matters was published in June 1990, the then Home Secretary said that the Government would review the effectiveness of press self-regulation once the new Press Complaints Commission which the committee recommended be established had been in operation for 18 months.
Now that the 18-month period is over, my right honourable and learned Friend the Secretary of State for National Heritage has decided to ask Sir David Calcutt QC, the Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, who chaired the earlier committee, to undertake an assessment of how self-regulation has worked in practice since his committee reported. His remit will be to assess the effectiveness of non-statutory self-regulation- by the press since the establishment of the Press Complaints Commission and to give his views on whether the present arrangements for self-regulation should now be modified or put on a statutory basis.
81WAThe Secretary of State has also asked him to consider whether any further measures may be needed to deal with intrusions into personal privacy by the press, and to make recommendations.
The Secretary of State believes that a further independent analysis based on recent experience of self-regulation will be of great assistance in determining the way forward in this difficult and sensitive area. In view of his chairmanship of the earlier Committee, Sir David is uniquely qualified to carry out this task, and the Secretary of State is very grateful to him for agreeing to take it on.