Independent Television Commission chief executive, Patricia Hodgson, has criticised the level of responsibility given to Ofcom and has urged the new super regulator to focus on its competition duties.
Delivering last nightÂ’s annual New Statesman lecture, Hodgson warned against the dangers of Ofcom becoming tied up in the range of regulatory responsibilities set out in the GovernmentÂ’s recently passed Communications Act.
She emphasised that Ofcom, which is due to replace the five existing regulatory bodies at the end of this year, had been given some 260 duties, twice as many as its predecessors had carried out collectively.
Speaking in a purely personal capacity, she said: “Ofcom has committed itself to less but more effective regulation, aiming at strategic interventions to achieve bundles of results. Its problem will be the pressure of lobbies tempting it to act on the basis of every single one of those 260 duties.”
She added: ”Ofcom is asked to serve citizens as well as consumers. But how can a regulator be asked to reconcile competing political goals when, by definition, the regulator is unelected.” “Much can be achieved by clear focus and fewer targets. So Ofcom should focus on its competition duties, minimise burdens, sustain competition and much will follow.”
HodgsonÂ’s comments reflect the concern of some in the industry that the Government has given Ofcom too much power, but not enough money to exercise it effectively.
Earlier this year Ofcom’s chief executive, Stephen Carter, emphasised the need for the new super regulator to be sufficiently funded and stressed that good regulation is not synonymous with cheap regulation (see Carter Blasts Risky Amendments To Communications Bill).
He said: “Ofcom will have multiple additional responsibilities and whilst we will be a leaner and hopefully more efficient organisation than it is possible for the five existing regulators to be, we will not be cheaper to run and at no time would we want to find ourselves in a position where we were under-financed in the course of executing our statutory responsibilities.”
Ofcom and the ITC announced last week that they have launched an inquiry into the rules governing the sale of television advertising following the Government’s decision to allow Carlton and Granada to merge without selling off their sales houses (see Television Advertising Market Set For Wide Ranging Review).
