Select committee: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 10
Twelfth Report - Draft Media Bill: Radio Measures
Published 21 Jul 2023
Paragraph 43
Addressed to Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Pre-legislative scrutiny of the Draft Media Bill All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We disagree with the Government’s conclusion that the negative resolution procedure is appropriate for regulations designating a radio selection service or amending its definition. The Bill does not require the Secretary of State to accept Ofcom’s recommendations and allows her to substitute her own. The requirement Draft Media Bill: Radio Measures 23 to give reasons if the regulations differ materially from Ofcom’s recommendations is welcome but will be a token gesture if those reasons are not subject to scrutiny before the secondary legislation comes into force. We recommend regulations that designate and specify descriptions of radio selection services are subject to the affirmative procedure.
From: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Twelfth Report - Draft Media Bill: Radio Measures (HC 1287), paragraph 43, 21 July 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 17 November 2023.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government welcomes the Committee's reports and says it has amended the Bill in response to a number of recommendations, while declining others, including changing the prominence descriptor from "appropriate" to "significant".
- On genres, the Government does not agree that reverting to a list of specific genre requirements is compatible with modernising the remit, but has amended the Bill to refer to an "appropriate range of genres". It accepts the second recommendation, on Ofcom recommending new content categories.
- On prominence, it has "decided not to change from 'appropriate' to 'significant'", citing flexibility across different user interfaces and operability concerns.
- On listed events, it has amended the Bill to allow Ofcom to draw up a list of 'relevant services' to close the streaming loophole. On digital rights, it is "considering this issue" and plans to set out more detail "in due course".
- On video-on-demand, it accepts the recommendation to lay a list of services before Parliament no fewer than 5 sitting days before designation, but continues with its tiered approach.