My Lords, I too have added my name to Amendment 9 in the name of the noble Viscount, Lord Colville of Culross, which, as he has explained, seeks to define what an “appropriate range of genres” actually is. What worries me is that his amendment has a list and, without that, I do not think that there is any definition of what we think an appropriate range should be.
We are not alone in believing that new subsection (6) is inadequate in its lack of clarity over both what an appropriate range of genres is and how it is going to be monitored by Ofcom. Concerns have been expressed through briefings to noble Lords from the Citizens’ PSM Forum, which welcomes and endorses these amendments. The only change that I suggest is that instead of “religion and other beliefs”, I would prefer “religion and other faiths”, as I think that will ensure that conspiracy theories and the like are not accidently captured by this.
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The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leeds, who is not in his place, is a former chairman of the Sandford St Martin Trust, which has been vociferous about the need to include religion, in particular, at this time. In an earlier debate, the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, spoke of the importance of science broadcasting and illustrated its importance during the Covid pandemic, and the Government have themselves made significant investments through the Arts Council and the levelling up fund to ensure that as many people as possible have access to arts and culture across the UK. Surely broadcasting should be part of this as well.
The Minister said in an earlier debate, as picked up by the noble Lord, Lord Foster, that the Bill gives the Government the power to take action if a sufficient variety of genres is not produced, but can he explain what circumstances would precipitate the Government taking such action? Again, what is the definition of an “appropriate range of genres”? Can he be confident, without it being a statutory duty, that Ofcom will appropriately monitor the amount and range of programmes on broadcast channels, online and on demand? The plain fact is that in recent months, the duties placed upon Ofcom have significantly increased, so if these details are not outlined, how can we be sure? What will Ofcom be measuring and how can we be sure that we know, in Parliament, what Ofcom will be missing? I hope the Minister will listen to the strong feelings expressed across the Committee today and I look forward to his response.