HL Deb 15 April 2002 vol 633 c140WA
Baroness Anelay of St Johns

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their response to the conclusion in the report on Ofcom prepared by the Commercial Radio Companies Association, that "The Towers Perrin Scoping Project was short on deregulation and consultation"; and that "if Ofcom is to succeed it must he more than a re-arrangement of the current five regulators". [HL3658]

Baroness Blackstone

The Towers Perrin scoping report was commissioned by the five existing regulators due to be replaced by Ofcom. It was intended as an initial study of the work that needed to be done in preparing for Ofcom, based on an assessment of the White Paper, and was in no sense a blueprint for the new organisation. There is wide agreement that Ofcom needs to be more than a rearrangement of the current five regulators if it is to succeed. But decisions on Ofcom's structure and other management issues will be matters for the new board to be appointed under the completion of the Office of Communications Act.