Office of Public Sector Information
PART III continued
(1) After section 17 of the 1990 Act there is inserted—
(1) The Commission may, when awarding a Channel 3 licence to any person, make the grant of the licence to him conditional on his compliance before the grant with such specified requirements relating to the financing of the service as appear to them to be appropriate, having regard to—
(a) any duties which are or may be imposed on them, or on the licence holder, by or under this Act, and
(b) any information provided to them under section 15(3)(g) by the person to whom the licence is awarded as to his projected financial position during the period for which the licence would be in force.
(2) Where the Commission determine that any condition imposed by them in relation to a Channel 3 licence in pursuance of subsection (1) has not been satisfied, section 17 shall (subject to subsection (3)) have effect as if the person to whom the licence was awarded had not made an application for it.
(3) Section 17 shall not so have effect if the Commission decide that it would be desirable to publish a fresh notice under section 15(1) in respect of the grant of the licence.”
(2) In section 51 of the 1990 Act (procedure to be followed by Commission in connection with consideration of applications for, and awarding of, licences to provide additional services), in subsection (3)—
(a) for “section 17” there is substituted “sections 17 and 17A”, and
(b) for “it applies” there is substituted “they apply”.
(3) After section 76 of the 1990 Act there is inserted—
(1) The Commission may, when awarding a local delivery licence to any person, make the grant of the licence to him conditional on his compliance before the grant with such specified requirements relating to the financing of the service as appear to them to be appropriate, having regard to—
(a) any duties which are or may be imposed on them, or on the licence holder, by or under this Act, and
(b) any information provided to them under section 74(3)(d) by the person to whom the licence is awarded as to his projected financial position during the period for which the licence would be in force.
(2) Where the Commission determine that any condition imposed by them in relation to a local delivery licence in pursuance of subsection (1) has not been satisfied, section 76 shall (subject to subsection (3)) have effect as if the person to whom the licence was awarded had not made an application for it.
(3) Section 76 shall not so have effect if the Commission decide that it would be desirable to publish a fresh notice under section 74(1) in respect of the grant of the licence.”
Section 48 of the 1990 Act (additional services) is amended in paragraph (c) of subsection (3) by the addition after the words “their contents” of the words “or relate to the promotion or listing of such programmes”.
(1) Section 45 of the 1990 Act (licensing etc. of non-domestic satellite services) is amended as follows.
(2) In subsection (5), for “and” there is substituted “to”.
(3) In subsection (6), for “shall instead be £50,000” there is substituted— “shall not exceed whichever is the greater of—
(a) £50,000, and
(b) the amount determined under subsection (6A).
(6A) The amount referred to in subsection (6)(b) is—
(a) in a case where a penalty under section 41(1)(a) has not previously been imposed on the holder of the licence during any period for which his licence has been in force (“the relevant period”), 3 per cent. of the qualifying revenue for his last complete accounting period (as determined in accordance with section 19(2) to (6)); and
(b) in any other case, 5 per cent. of the qualifying revenue for that accounting period (as so determined);
and in relation to a person whose first complete accounting period falling within the relevant period has not yet ended, paragraphs (a) and (b) above shall be construed as referring to 3, or (as the case may be) 5, per cent. of the amount which the Commission estimate to be the qualifying revenue for that accounting period (as so determined).”
(4) Subsections (8) and (9) are omitted.
After section 45 of the 1990 Act there is inserted—
(1) If the Commission are satisfied—
(a) that the holder of a licence to provide a non-domestic satellite service has included in the service one or more programmes containing material likely to encourage or incite to crime or to lead to disorder,
(b) that he has thereby failed to comply with a condition included in the licence in pursuance of section 6(1)(a), and
(c) that the failure is such as to justify the revocation of the licence,
they shall serve on the holder of the licence a notice under subsection (2).
(2) A notice under this subsection is a notice—
(a) stating that the Commission are satisfied as mentioned in subsection (1),
(b) specifying the respects in which, in their opinion, the licence holder has failed to comply with the condition mentioned in paragraph (b) of that subsection,
(c) stating that the Commission may revoke his licence after the end of the period of twenty-one days beginning with the date on which the notice is served on the licence holder,
(d) informing the licence holder of his right to make representations to the Commission within that period about the matters complained of, and
(e) suspending the licence as from the time when the notice is served on the licence holder until the revocation takes effect or the Commission decide not to revoke the licence.
(3) If the Commission, having considered any representations about the matters complained of made to them within the period referred to in subsection (2)(c) by the licence holder, are satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest to revoke the licence in question, they shall serve on the licence holder a notice revoking the licence.
(4) A notice under subsection (3) shall not take effect until the end of the period of twenty-eight days beginning with the day on which that notice was served on the licence holder.
(5) Section 42 (as applied by section 45(5)) shall not have effect in relation to the revocation of a licence in pursuance of a notice under subsection (1).”
(1) Section 47 of the 1990 Act (licensing etc. of licensable programme services) is amended as follows.
(2) In subsection (8), for “and” there is substituted “to”.
(3) In subsection (9), for “shall instead be £50,000” there is substituted— “shall not exceed whichever is the greater of—
(a) £50,000, and
(b) the amount determined under subsection (9A).
(9A) The amount referred to in subsection (9)(b) is—
(a) in a case where a penalty under section 41(1)(a) has not previously been imposed on the holder of the licence during any period for which his licence has been in force (“the relevant period”), 3 per cent. of the qualifying revenue for his last complete accounting period (as determined in accordance with section 19(2) to (6)); and
(b) in any other case, 5 per cent. of the qualifying revenue for that accounting period (as so determined);
and in relation to a person whose first complete accounting period falling within the relevant period has not yet ended, paragraphs (a) and (b) above shall be construed as referring to 3, or (as the case may be) 5, per cent. of the amount which the Commission estimate to be the qualifying revenue for that accounting period (as so determined).”
(4) Subsections (11) and (12) are omitted.
(1) After section 78 of the 1990 Act there is inserted—
(1) Where the Commission are satisfied, in the case of a local delivery service by means of which one or more of the services specified in section 72(2) is delivered in digital form, that it would be appropriate, having regard to the extent of the use and proposed use of digital technology in the provision of the service, for the service to be treated as a digital local delivery service for the purposes of this section, they shall serve a notice to that effect on the holder of the licence to provide the service.
(2) The Commission shall do all that they can to secure that, subject to subsection (3) and to any exceptions for which the Secretary of State, after consultation with the Commission, the BBC and the Welsh Authority, may by order provide, every digital local delivery service provided by any person in any area includes, by the reception and immediate re-transmission of the broadcasts—
(a) the programmes included in each relevant service, and
(b) if the area for which the local delivery service is provided falls wholly or partly in Wales, the programmes included in the appropriate Welsh service.
(3) The Commission may exempt any digital local delivery service from the requirement to include any service (“the broadcast service”) if it appears to the Commission that, at the place where the holder of the licence to provide the local delivery service receives or would receive the broadcast service, the broadcast service is not capable of being received at a level satisfying such technical standards as the Commission may from time to time determine.
(4) Where a relevant service provided for reception in an area for which a digital local delivery service is provided consists in the broadcasting for simultaneous reception of programmes contained in two or more programme schedules, then, so far as relating to that relevant service, the duty in subsection (2) shall be subject to the limitation in whichever of subsections (5) and (6) is appropriate.
(5) Where the programmes contained in one of the programme schedules are broadcast for reception in a greater part of the area than the programmes contained in the other schedule or any of the other schedules, the duty in subsection (2) so far as so relating shall extend only to the programmes contained in the first-mentioned schedule.
(6) Where subsection (5) does not apply, the duty in subsection (2) so far as so relating shall extend only to the programmes contained in such one of the programme schedules as the relevant broadcasting body may determine.
(7) For the purposes of this section Channel 3 shall be taken to be a single service consisting in the broadcasting for simultaneous reception of programmes contained in several programme schedules.
(8) Each broadcaster shall provide any person providing a digital local delivery service with such assistance as he may reasonably require in relation to the technical arrangements for the re-transmission in pursuance of this section of the broadcasts of that broadcaster.
(9) In this section—
“the appropriate Welsh service” means the service referred to in section 57(1A)(a) or, if no such service is being broadcast, S4C;
“broadcaster” means the Welsh Authority or any person providing a relevant service;
“digital local delivery service” means any local delivery service in respect of which the Commission have given a notice under subsection (1);
“the relevant broadcasting body” means—
in relation to any service provided by the BBC, the BBC, and
in relation to any service licensed by the Commission, the Commission;
“relevant service” means any of the following services—
Channel 3, Channel 4 and Channel 5,
the teletext service referred to in section 49(2), and
the television broadcasting services and teletext service provided by the BBC.
(10) Expressions used in subsections (7) and (9) and in Part I of this Act have the same meaning in those provisions as in that Part.
(11) An order under subsection (2) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.”
(2) In Part III of Schedule 12 to the 1990 Act (transitional provisions relating to existing cable services), for paragraph 4 there is substituted—
“4 (1) The Commission shall do all that they can to secure that, subject to sub-paragraph (2) and to any exceptions for which the Secretary of State, after consultation with the Commission, the BBC and the Welsh Authority, may by order provide, every diffusion service provided by any person in any area under a relevant licence includes, by the reception and immediate re-transmission of the broadcasts, the programmes included in each relevant service provided for reception in that area.
(2) The Commission may exempt any diffusion service from the requirement to include any relevant service if it appears to the Commission that, at the place where the holder of the licence to provide the diffusion service receives or would receive the relevant service, the relevant service is not capable of being received at a level satisfying such technical standards as the Commission may from time to time determine.
(3) Where a relevant service provided for reception in an area for which a diffusion service is provided consists in the broadcasting for simultaneous reception of programmes contained in two or more programme schedules, then, so far as relating to that relevant service, the duty in sub-paragraph (1) shall be subject to the limitation in whichever of sub-paragraphs (4) and (5) is appropriate.
(4) Where the programmes contained in one of the programme schedules are broadcast for reception in a greater part of the area than the programmes contained in the other schedule or any of the other schedules, the duty in sub-paragraph (1) so far as so relating shall extend only to the programmes contained in the first-mentioned schedule.
(5) Where sub-paragraph (4) does not apply, the duty in sub-paragraph (1) so far as so relating shall extend only to the programmes contained in such one of the programme schedules as the relevant broadcasting body may determine.
(6) For the purposes of this paragraph Channel 3 shall be taken to be a single service consisting in the broadcasting for simultaneous reception of programmes contained in several programme schedules.
(7) Each person providing a relevant service (“the broadcaster”) shall provide any person providing a diffusion service with such assistance as he may reasonably require in relation to the technical arrangements for the re-transmission in pursuance of this paragraph of the broadcasts of that broadcaster.
(8) In this paragraph—
“the relevant broadcasting body” means—
in relation to any service provided by the BBC, the BBC, and
in relation to any service licensed by the Commission, the Commission;
“relevant service” means any of the following services—
Channel 3, Channel 4 and S4C,
the teletext service referred to in section 49(2) of this Act, and
the two television broadcasting services provided by the BBC on the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1996 and the teletext service provided by the BBC at that time.
(9) Expressions used in sub-paragraphs (6) and (8) and in Part I of this Act have the same meaning in those sub-paragraphs as in that Part.
(10) An order under sub-paragraph (1) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
4A (1) Where the Commission are satisfied, in the case of any diffusion service which is provided under a relevant licence and by means of which one or more of the services specified in section 72(2) of this Act is delivered in digital form, that it would be appropriate, having regard to the extent of the use and proposed use of digital technology in the provision of the service, for the service to be treated as a digital diffusion service for the purposes of this paragraph, they shall serve a notice to that effect on the holder of the licence to provide the service; and in this paragraph “digital diffusion service” means a diffusion service in respect of which such a notice has been served.
(2) Subsections (2) to (8) of section 78A of this Act shall have effect in relation to a digital diffusion service as they have effect in relation to a digital local delivery service (within the meaning of that section); and nothing in paragraph 4 shall have effect in relation to a digital diffusion service.”
After section 103 of the 1990 Act there is inserted—
(1) A national licence may (subject to the following provisions of this section) be renewed on one occasion for a period of eight years beginning with the date of renewal.
(2) An application for the renewal of a national licence under subsection (1) may be made by the licence holder not earlier than three years before the date on which it would otherwise cease to be in force and not later than the relevant date.
(3) Where any such application is made before the relevant date—
(a) if no simulcast radio service provided by the applicant is being broadcast in digital form when the application is made, the Authority shall postpone the consideration of the application until the relevant date or, if earlier, the date on which the broadcasting of such a service in that form begins, and
(b) in any other case, the Authority may postpone the consideration of the application for so long as they think appropriate having regard to subsection (8).
(4) Where an application for the renewal of a national licence has been duly made to the Authority, they shall (subject to subsection (5)) grant the application if, but only if—
(a) the Authority are satisfied that the applicant would, if his licence were renewed, provide a national service which complied with the conditions included in the licence in pursuance of section 106 (whether as originally imposed or as varied under that section),
(b) the applicant has given notice to the Authority under section 41(2)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1996 of his intention to provide a service for broadcasting in digital form, and
(c) a simulcast radio service provided by the applicant is being broadcast in digital form or the Authority are satisfied that by the relevant date the applicant has done all that it would in the circumstances be reasonable to expect him to do by that date to procure the broadcasting of such a service within such time as the Authority consider reasonable.
(5) Section 100(4) to (6) shall apply in relation to an applicant for the renewal of a national licence as those provisions apply in relation to such an applicant as is mentioned in section 100(4), but as if any reference to the awarding of such a licence to the applicant were a reference to the renewal of the applicant’s licence under this section.
(6) On the grant of any application under this section the Authority—
(a) may, in a case where a simulcast radio service provided by the applicant is not yet being broadcast in digital form on the relevant date, determine a date by which the broadcasting of such a service in that form must begin;
(b) shall determine an amount which is to be payable to the Authority by the applicant in respect of the first complete calendar year falling within the period for which the licence is to be renewed; and
(c) may specify a different percentage from that specified under section 98(1)(d)(ii) as the percentage of qualifying revenue for each accounting period of his that will be payable by the applicant in pursuance of section 102(1)(c) during the period for which the licence is to be renewed.
(7) The amount determined by the Authority under subsection (6)(b) in connection with the renewal of a licence shall be such amount as would, in their opinion, be payable to them by virtue of section 102(1)(a) if they were granting a fresh licence to provide the national service in question.
(8) Where the Authority have granted a person’s application under this section they shall formally renew his licence not later than the relevant date or, if that is not reasonably practicable (whether because subsection (3)(a) precluded the consideration of the application before that date or for any other reason), as soon after that date as is reasonably practicable; and they shall not so renew his licence unless they have notified him of—
(a) any date determined by them under subsection (6)(a),
(b) the amount determined by them under subsection (6)(b), and
(c) any percentage specified by them under subsection (6)(c),
and he has, within such period as is specified in that notification, notified them that he consents to the licence being renewed on those terms.
(9) Where a national licence has been renewed under this section—
(a) any conditions included in it in pursuance of section 102 shall have effect during the period for which the licence has been renewed—
(i) as if the amount determined by the Authority under subsection (6)(b) were an amount specified in a cash bid submitted by the licence holder, and
(ii) subject to any determination made under subsection (6)(c);
(b) (subject to paragraph (a)) that section shall have effect in relation to the period for which the licence has been renewed as it has effect in relation to the period for which a national licence is originally in force;
(c) where the Authority have determined a date under subsection (6)(a), they shall include in the licence as renewed a condition requiring a simulcast radio service to be broadcast in digital form throughout the period beginning with the date determined under subsection (6)(a) and ending with the date on which the licence (as renewed) is to expire; and
(d) the reference in section 111(4) to the end of the period for which a national licence is to continue in force shall, in relation to the licence, be construed as a reference to the end of the period for which it has been renewed.
(10) Subsections (6)(a) and (9)(c) do not prejudice the generality of section 48(3)(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1996 (power to vary national licence to include conditions relating to digital broadcasting).
(11) In this section—
“simulcast radio service” has the same meaning as in Part II of the Broadcasting Act 1996;
“the relevant date”, in relation to a national licence, means the date which the Authority determine to be that by which they would need to publish a notice under section 98(1) if they were to grant, as from the date on which that licence would expire if not renewed, a fresh licence to provide the national service formerly provided under that licence.”
After section 106 of the 1990 Act there is inserted—
(1) Any local licence granted to a body corporate before the commencement of this section shall be taken to include—
(a) a condition requiring the body to give the Authority advance notice of any proposals known to the body that may give rise to a relevant change of control, and
(b) a condition requiring the body to provide the Authority, in such manner and at such times as they may reasonably require, with such information as they may require for the purposes of exercising their functions under subsection (3).
(2) Subsection (3) applies in relation to any local licence which—
(a) was granted before the commencement of this section,
(b) is held by a body corporate, and
(c) has not previously been varied under that subsection.
(3) Where, in relation to any local licence to which this subsection applies—
(a) the Authority receive notice, in pursuance of a condition imposed under subsection (1) or section 88(2)(d), of any proposals that may give rise to a relevant change of control, or
(b) a relevant change of control takes place (whether or not that change has been previously notified to the Authority),
the Authority may vary the licence, by a notice served on the licence holder, so as to include in the licence such conditions as they consider appropriate for the purpose of ensuring that the character of the local service is maintained after the relevant change of control.
(4) Subject to subsection (5), any new or varied condition imposed under subsection (3) in relation to any matter may be more onerous than any existing condition imposed under section 106(1) in relation to that matter; and in this subsection “existing condition” means a condition of the licence as it has effect, or had effect, before the relevant change of control.
(5) The Authority may not under subsection (3) include any new or varied condition in a licence unless the new condition or the condition as varied is one which (with any necessary modifications) would have been satisfied by the licence holder—
(a) during the three months immediately before the relevant date, or
(b) if the Authority consider that the performance of the licence holder during that period is not typical of its performance during the twelve months before the relevant date, during such other period of three months during those twelve months as they may notify in writing to the licence holder;
and for the purposes of this subsection “the relevant date” is the date of the relevant change of control or, if earlier, the date on which the Authority exercise their powers under subsection (3).
(6) The Authority shall not serve a notice on any body under subsection (3) unless they have given it a reasonable opportunity of making representations to them about the variation.
(7) Where, in any case falling within paragraph (a) of subsection (3), a notice under that subsection is served before the change to which it relates takes place, the variation shall not take effect until the change to which it relates takes place.
(8) The power in subsection (1) of section 106 to vary conditions imposed under that subsection includes power to vary conditions imposed under subsection (3).
(9) In this section “relevant change of control” means a change in the persons having control over the body holding the licence.”
(1) After section 104 of the 1990 Act there is inserted—
(1) A local licence may (subject to the following provisions of this section) be renewed on one occasion for a period of eight years beginning with the date of renewal.
(2) No application for the renewal of a local licence under subsection (1) may be made before the Authority first publish a notice pursuant to section 50(2) of the Broadcasting Act 1996 inviting applications for a licence to provide a relevant local radio multiplex service.
(3) Subject to subsection (2), an application for the renewal of a local licence under subsection (1) may be made by the licence holder not earlier than three years before the date on which it would otherwise cease to be in force and not later than the relevant date.
(4) The applicant must, in his application or at any time before the consideration of his application, nominate—
(a) a local digital sound programme service provided or to be provided by him, and
(b) a relevant local radio multiplex service,
but may not nominate together a local digital sound programme service and a local radio multiplex service if another local licence held by him includes a condition in pursuance of subsection (12) relating to the broadcasting of that local digital sound programme service by that local radio multiplex service.
(5) Where an application for the renewal of a local licence has been duly made to the Authority, they shall grant the application if—
(a) they are satisfied that the applicant would, if his licence were renewed, provide a local service which complied with the conditions included in the licence in pursuance of section 106 (whether as originally imposed or as varied under that section), and
(b) the nominated local digital sound programme service provided by the applicant is being broadcast by means of the nominated local radio multiplex service.
(6) Where the condition specified in subsection (5)(a) is satisfied, the Authority may grant the application even though the condition specified in subsection (5)(b) is not satisfied if—
(a) the applicant holds a licence to provide local digital sound programme services,
(b) a licence to provide the nominated local radio multiplex service has been awarded, and
(c) it appears to the Authority that, under a contract between the applicant and the person to whom that licence has been awarded, the applicant is obliged to provide the nominated local digital sound programme service for broadcasting by means of the nominated local radio multiplex service.
(7) The Authority may in any case postpone consideration of the application until the relevant date.
(8) If, at the relevant date, the condition specified in subsection (5)(b) is not satisfied, and any of the conditions specified in subsection (6) is not satisfied, the Authority may postpone consideration of the application for such period not exceeding twelve months as they think appropriate.
(9) Where the Authority postpone consideration of an application under this section for any period beyond the relevant date (the “postponement period”), they shall extend the period for which the licence is in force by a period equal to the postponement period; and section 86(3) shall not limit the powers of the Authority under this subsection.
(10) On the grant of any application under this section the Authority shall—
(a) where the nominated local digital sound programme service provided by the applicant is not being broadcast by means of the nominated local radio multiplex service, determine a date by which that service must have begun to be so broadcast; and
(b) specify a fee payable to the Authority in respect of the renewal.
(11) Where the Authority have granted a person’s application under this section they shall formally renew his licence as soon afterwards as is reasonably practicable; and they shall not so renew his licence unless they have notified him of—
(a) any date determined by them under subsection (10)(a), and
(b) the renewal fee specified by them under subsection (10)(b),
and he has, within such period as is specified in that notification, notified them that he consents to the licence being renewed on those terms.
(12) Where the Authority renew a licence under this section they shall include in the licence as renewed a condition requiring the licence holder to do all that he can to ensure that the nominated local digital sound programme service is broadcast by means of the nominated local radio multiplex service throughout the period beginning with whichever is the later of—
(a) the date on which the licence would expire if not renewed, and
(b) any date determined by them under subsection (10)(a),
and ending with the date on which the licence (as renewed) is to expire.
(13) In this section—
(a) “local digital sound programme service” has the same meaning as in Part II of the Broadcasting Act 1996;
(b) “nominated” means nominated by the applicant under subsection (4);
(c) “relevant date”, in relation to a local licence, means the date which the Authority determine to be that by which they would need to publish a notice under section 104(1) if they were to grant, as from the date on which that licence would expire if not renewed, a fresh licence to provide the local service formerly provided under that licence; and
(d) “relevant local radio multiplex service”, in relation to a local licence, means a local radio multiplex service (within the meaning of Part II of the Broadcasting Act 1996) with a coverage area which to a significant extent includes the coverage area of the local service provided under the local licence; and for this purpose “coverage area”, in relation to a service, has the meaning given by paragraph 3A of Part I of Schedule 2.
Broadcasting Act 1996