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24/06/2003

Lords stage revolt over Communications Bill

On Monday the government suffered a crushing defeat of its Communications Bill as it received its first reading in the Lords.
An amendment tabled by Lord Puttnam attracted broad cross-party support and was passed by 174 votes to 74. The amendment to the Bill sought to include the concept “citizenship” as a core principle of the Bill which will form the code of practice for the combined communications industry watchdog, Ofcom.
The ammendment from film producer Lord Puttnam attracted widespread support from Tories, Labour, Lib Dems and several crossbench peers.
Currently going through the report stage at the House of Lords, the Communications Bill will see the biggest shake-up of UK industry regulation in recent years.
Combined regulator Ofcom will be handed responsibility to oversee the industry sector, a role that is considered vital as the Bill will change many aspects of current media ownership rules.
Previously the government had issued a broadly favourable response to Lord Puttnam's recommendations on the draft Communications Bill, but had failed to include components that it was considered would prevent further ‘dumbing down’ of UK’s broadcast media.
While the Bill is considered to be pretty much in its final form, the contention has arisen over concerns about the deregulation of broadcast ownership and the potential knock-on effects on the specific issue of content regulation.
The Bills supporters claim that the regulatory framework of the Bill is acceptable in its current form.
However, the Department of Culture Media and Sport said that they will consider the amendments in detail and the underlying principles in the issues that were raised.
(SP)
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