Communications: Digital Britain

My Lords, I join the noble Lord, Lord Luke, in thanking the Minister for repeating the Statement. In a sense, it was almost not a repetition of the Statement, as it is his own Statement in many ways. I very much welcome the Government’s new focus on the digital economy and the creative industries. It is perhaps because of the rather reduced state of our financial services industries that we are now constantly reminded, not least at the Golden Globe awards, of the importance to Britain of those industries. I welcome the review’s emphasis not only on the economics of the creative industries and digital Britain, which are important, but on the very important matter of fairness. Access is vital, and inclusion is a key objective. In all this, inclusion is one of the big challenges that we face. The problem with the review, which is much more interim than many of us expected, is that its conclusions are rather thin on the ground and it gives rise to more questions than it answered. My comments today from these Benches are rather more about the plumbing than the poetry of the report, to echo a phrase used by the Minister. For a start, we are very pleased with the affirmation of support for the BBC. We are also pleased with the statement that there must be a plurality of provision in public service broadcasting. The BBC should definitely not be the sole provider of PSB, and there is a clear recognition that the economic models of public service broadcasting are changing. Our own preference on these Benches is for partnership between the BBC and other public service broadcasters, not for top slicing. We are also completely of the view that a merger between Channel 4 and Channel 5 is not a viable option. We are rather baffled by the fact that there is no statement in the report either about top slicing or about the inadvisability of any kind of merger option. We favour some kind of co-operation between Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide, but there is very little detail in the report on that, despite the fact that Ofcom reported only very recently on precisely those aspects. This lack of conclusion about PSB is very disappointing. There is recognition in the report that content perhaps needs support. Indeed, support is vital in the context of particular parts of the creative industries where there is market failure of some kind and the British product is disadvantaged. We are thinking particularly about children’s television and computer games. I very much hope that the Minister can assure us that he is in deep discussion with the Treasury on these issues, because tax incentives for these content-driven industries are absolutely vital. We also welcome some of the statements made about the migration to DAB universally, but there is very little detail in the report on the Government’s aspiration for the switchover date. I must admit that, despite being a lawyer, I am rather confused by some of the interim review’s statements about copyright. There is a statement that internet service providers will be obliged to notify individuals that their conduct is unlawful, but what happens after that? Who will be responsible for prosecution? A new rights agency is proposed, but I cannot for the life of me see why the Intellectual Property Office should not carry out those duties. Mr Lammy has stated previously that the UK will not legislate on piracy, so I find the whole set of statements in the review extremely confusing. Universal access to broadband is absolutely crucial. There is a lack of ambition, however. As has been mentioned, the average speed currently experienced by broadband users is something like 3.6 megabits per second, so why are we not aiming for the universal provision of super-fast broadband instead of broadband at 2 megabits per second? Briefly, I also welcome some of the elements of section 5.1, on education and skills in the broadband area. I welcome some of the current projects, such as Find Your Talent, which is a very welcome initiative that recognises that times are changing and that we must inspire young people to find their own way to a creative future. There is a difficulty, however. We know that there has to be personalisation and participation and that parents need to get involved, but in addition to worthwhile projects there must be an overall strategy that includes equipping teachers with the right approach and skills. We also need to encourage partnerships with cultural institutions and the creative industries. How much cross-government co-operation is taking place between the DCMS and the DCFS? Decisions were promised at this stage. It is disappointing that there is so little detail on PSB. We are in danger of getting behind the curve. The competitive situation with other countries has been mentioned. We must speed up our decision making. I hope that the Minister can reassure us in that respect that the final report really will be definitive.