Communications Act 2003

208 The Gaelic Media Service

(1) The body established for the purposes of section 183 of the 1990 Act (financing of programmes in Gaelic out of the Gaelic Television Fund) is hereby renamed Seirbheis nam Meadhanan Gàidhlig (the Gaelic Media Service).

(2) References in any instrument or other document to Comataidh Craolaidh Gaidhlig or to the Gaelic Broadcasting Committee are to be construed accordingly.

(3) For subsection (4) of that section there shall be substituted—

“(3B) The functions of the Service shall be to secure that a wide and diverse range of high quality programmes in Gaelic are broadcast or otherwise transmitted so as to be available to persons in Scotland.

(4) The Service may—

(a) make grants out of the Fund, or

(b) otherwise apply it,

for any of the purposes of carrying out their functions or for any purpose connected with the carrying out of those functions.

(4A) In carrying out their functions, the Service may finance, or engage in, any of the following—

(a) the making of programmes in Gaelic with a view to those programmes being broadcast or otherwise transmitted so as to be available to persons in Scotland;

(b) the provision of training for persons employed, or to be employed, in connection with the making of programmes in Gaelic to be so broadcast or otherwise transmitted;

(c) research into the types of programmes in Gaelic that members of the Gaelic-speaking community would like to be broadcast or otherwise transmitted.

(4B) But the Service are not to be entitled, for the purpose of carrying out their functions, to provide—

(a) a Channel 3 service;

(b) Channel 4;

(c) Channel 5;

(d) a national sound broadcasting service;

(e) a national digital sound programme service; or

(f) a television multiplex service or a radio multiplex service.”

(4) For subsection (9) of that section there shall be substituted—

“(9) In this section, section 183A and Schedule 19—

• “Channel 3 service”, “Channel 4” and “Channel 5” each has the same meaning as in Part 1;

• “national digital sound programme service” has the same meaning as in Part 2 of the Broadcasting Act 1996;

• “national sound broadcasting service” means a sound broadcasting service within the meaning of Part 3 which, under subsection (4)(a) of section 245 of the Communications Act 2003, is a national service for the purposes of that section;

• “Gaelic” means the Gaelic language as spoken in Scotland;

• “programme” includes any item included in a programme service;

• “radio multiplex service” has the same meaning as in Part 2 of the Broadcasting Act 1996;

• “the Service” means the body established under subsection (3) and known as Seirbheis nam Meadhanan Gàidhlig (the Gaelic Media Service);

• “television multiplex service” has the meaning given by section 241(1) of the Communications Act 2003 to a multiplex service within the meaning of Part 1 of the Broadcasting Act 1996;

• and a reference to being available to persons in Scotland includes a reference to being available both to persons in Scotland and to others.”