§ Mr. Simon CoombsTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage when she will publish the results of her consultation about the V-chip. [8817]
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyI have today issued a report of my Department's consultation on the V-chip. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
I have also announced today a programme for action designed to deal with rising public concern about violence on television. My Department will co-operate with the BBC, the Independent Television Commission and the Broadcasting Standards Commission on a programme to improve the information available to viewers about the content of programmes to be broadcast, and to publicise the policies on scheduling and the watershed. I will give my personal support to his initiative at a seminar for broadcasters to be organised by the BSC early in the new year.
The ITC and the BSC will review their codes of practice and the regulators will continue to ensure that programme makers adhere to them. My Department is also prepared to contribute to the funding of research into the potential of new technologies to provide extra support for viewers if the BSC believes that such research would be useful.