Public Service Broadcasting (Communications Committee Report)

My Lords, this has been a good debate, and coming before the Government’s White Paper, it is also well timed. I thank everyone for their contributions. The noble Lord, Lord Macdonald of Tradeston, emphasised the need to make BBC Worldwide a national champion, and I agree with what he said about STV and UTV. The noble Baroness, Lady Flather, had cautionary words for the BBC which it would do well to heed. The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Manchester raised the issue of the new MediaCityUK in Salford, where we may be on the verge of missing a great opportunity, particularly in training. He also underlined the state of broadcasting, and the Minister would do well to note what he has had to say. My noble friend Lord Inglewood underlined the importance of the long-term impact of the digital revolution. The noble Baroness, Lady Howe, emphasised the need for an alternative regional news service to that of BBC programming. The noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, talked about the importance of Channel 4 and had some words to say about BBC Three, which no doubt are now being pored over in BBC House. I thank the three Front-Benchers. As always, I agree with part of what each of them said and disagree with other parts. The noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, emphasised the need for a plurality of public service broadcasting and I certainly agree with him. However, he came out against any top-slicing of the licence fee. In an ideal world I might even agree; but we are not in an ideal world, we are in a crisis, and we will not be thanked if we do not examine options such as contestable funding. My noble friend Lady Rawlings spoke well about the position of regional news and I agree with what she said, but she did rather underplay the critical financial position of commercial broadcasters in this country. The noble Lord, Lord Davies, spoke with his usual charm about the problems being encountered by broadcasters. I was encouraged by his aside about regional newspapers, but I continue to disagree with the Government’s position as set out in their paper that everything in this area should be decided between the BBC and the Government, and that there should be no effective role for Parliament. I will not repeat my arguments on that because he has heard them before. He nods his head in assent, but I say to him that in the end, we will win. Lastly, and in many ways most importantly, I refer to the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Puttnam. He made a fundamental point when he said that it seems that the BBC is concerned only with its own future. Indeed the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, pointed out that while it is a world-class organisation, by golly it is also a world-class lobbyist. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Puttnam, that all public service broadcasting is in a crisis today and that the BBC must play a leading part in getting us out of it. In other words, the BBC must look outwards. Unless it does so I do not think it will be truly forgiven. It has been a good debate. We now wait for the Government’s final report. I think I detected in the Minister’s remarks that he promised us a debate on that final report. Being a wise man, he does not nod or make any gesture of any kind on that point. In all seriousness, I hope that we will have a debate upon it. With those words, I commend the Motion. Motion agreed.