Ofcom’s chief executive, Stephen Carter, has criticised Lord Puttnam’s recent amendment to the Communications Bill to give the new super-regulator a greater emphasis on protecting the interests of citizens.
In his first public speech since his appointment earlier this year (see
Carter Set For Chief Executive Role at Ofcom), Carter said the amendment, which was passed by the House of Lords last week (see
Lords Flex Muscles In Communications Bill Debate), contained a “degree of risk” and would require Ofcom to give priority to the public interest over the interests of the commercial world.
He told advertisers at ISBA’s annual lunch that this marked a considerable departure from the existing regulators, the Independent Television Commission and the Radio Authority, which currently work to balance the interests of citizens and consumers in parity.
The amendment recently won support from all sides of the house during the report stage of the Communications Bill. Peers had been concerned the Bill concentrated too much on Ofcom’s duties to the industry at the expense of its role in protecting the public interest.
However, Carter dismissed these accusations, saying: “Some people are suggesting Ofcom may disregard its public interest responsibilities, with a pure economic or economist’s view of the world. This characterisation fails to understand the whole thrust of the drafting of the legislation, namely that parity attaches to the twin duties of protecting the citizen and the consumer.”
He added: “It also fails to understand the passionate interest of the people who have been appointed to key positions in Ofcom, particularly the members of the content board under the excellent chairmanship of Richard Hooper.”
Carter warned that last minute changes to the Bill could detract from Ofcom’s single principle duty to further the long term interests of all citizens and consumers. He said: “Serving public interest is what Ofcom wishes to do and whilst it is impossible to foretell how Lord Puttnam’s amendment might affect that in an area of convergence and rapid change, late and undigested changes to the basic architecture of the Bill contain a degree of risk.”
The former NTL chief executive went on to emphasise the need for the new super regulator to be sufficiently funded and welcomed the recognition in Parliament that good regulation is not synonymous with cheap regulation.
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 recently began the next phase of its recruitment process and is searching for candidates to fill 13 specific roles including head of audience, consumer and market research.
