§ Mr. James HillTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what plans he has to amend the Broadcasting Act 1990.
§ Mr. BrookeI have today announced that, following careful consideration of the representations that I have received, I have concluded that the present regulations on the ownership of ITV companies should be relaxed. Subject to parliamentary approval, I propose to make an order to amend the rules, so that an ITV company could hold two regional licences in areas with the largest advertising revenue, except in London. No one would be able to own more than two ITV regional licences and the limits on other holdings would continue.
The statutory provisions on regional broadcasting and the conditions on regional programmes attached to the Independent Television Commission's licences remain in force, even if there are changes in ownership. These provisions safeguard the interests of viewers and, in particular, regional programming, including news and current affairs, which will remain a valuable aspect of the ITV system.
For the longer term, we shall keep the ownership restrictions under review, and look at the wider questions of cross-media ownership.