HC Deb 22 March 1993 vol 221 cc459-60W
16. Sir Teddy Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what powers are available to Her Majesty's Government to prevent the sale of access facilities to pornographic television stations based in the EC.

Mr. Brooke

Section 177 of the Broadcasting Act 1990 enables the Secretary of State, provided certain conditions are satisfied, to make an order proscribing an unacceptable foreign satellite television service. The Secretary of State must first have been notified by the Independent Television Commission that the service is considered unacceptable and should be proscribed. The Secretary of State must then satisfy himself that the making of the order is in the public interest and compatible with any international obligations of the United Kingdom. Those obligations, in the case of a service transmitted from another EC member state, would include obligations under the EC Broadcasting Directive.

The making of an order under section 177 attracts to it the criminal offences of supporting a proscribed foreign satellite service detailed in section 178. These include supplying or offering to supply a decoder for a proscribed service.

Sir Michael Neubert

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will seek new powers to ban the transmissions, such of those of the Red Hot Dutch satellite television channel, to the United Kingdom or to prohibit the reception of such transmissions.

Mr. Brooke

I refer to the answer that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Thanet, North (Mr. Gale) on 19 March,Official Report, column 427.