Broadcasting Act 1996

44 Restrictions on holding of licences under Part II. E+W+S+N.I.

(1) The Authority shall do all that they can to secure—

(a) that a person does not become or remain the holder of a licence if he is a person who is a disqualified person in relation to that licence by virtue of Part II of Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act (as amended by this Act); and

(b) that any requirements imposed by or under Parts III to V of that Schedule (as so amended) are complied with by or in relation to persons holding licences in relation to which those requirements apply.

(2) The Authority may accordingly—

(a) require any applicant for a licence to provide them with such information as they may reasonably require for the purpose of determining—

(i) whether he is such a disqualified person as is mentioned in subsection (1)(a),

(ii) whether any such requirements as are mentioned in subsection (1)(b) would preclude them from granting a licence to him, and

(iii) if so, what steps would be required to be taken by or in relation to him in order for any such requirements to be complied with;

(b) revoke the award of a licence to a body where a relevant change takes place after the award, but before the grant, of the licence;

(c) make the grant of a licence to any person conditional on the taking of any specified steps that appear to them to be required to be taken as mentioned in paragraph (a)(iii);

(d) impose conditions in any licence enabling them to require the licence holder, if a body corporate, to give to them advance notice of proposals affecting—

(i) shareholdings in the body, or

(ii) the directors of the body,

where such proposals are known to the body;

(e) impose conditions in any licence enabling them to give the licence holder directions requiring him to take, or arrange for the taking of, any specified steps appearing to them to be required to be taken in order for any such requirements as are mentioned in subsection (1)(b) to be complied with.

(3) Where the Authority—

(a) revoke the award of any licence in pursuance of subsection (2)(b), or

(b) determine that any condition imposed by them in relation to any licence in pursuance of subsection (2)(c) has not been satisfied,

any provisions of this Part relating to the awarding of licences of the kind in question shall (subject to subsection (4)) have effect as if the person to whom the licence was awarded or granted had not made an application for it.

(4) Those provisions shall not so have effect if the Authority decide that it would be desirable to publish a fresh notice under this Part in respect of the grant of a licence, or (as the case may be) a further licence, to provide the service in question.

(5) Every licence shall include such conditions as the Authority consider necessary or expedient to ensure that where—

(a) the holder of the licence is a body, and

(b) a relevant change takes place after the grant of the licence,

the Authority may revoke the licence by notice served on the holder of the licence and taking effect forthwith or on a date specified in the notice.

(6) The Authority shall not serve any such notice on the licence holder unless—

(a) the Authority have notified him of the matters complained of and given him a reasonable opportunity of making representations to them about those matters, and

(b) in a case where the relevant change is one falling within subsection (7)—

(i) they have also given him an opportunity of complying with Parts III and IV of Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act within a period specified in the notification, and

(ii) the period specified in the notification has elapsed.

(7) A relevant change falls within this subsection if it consists only in one or more of the following—

(a) a reduction in the total number of points, calculated in accordance with paragraph 9 of Part III of Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act, attributable to all the services referred to in paragraph 8(1) or (2)(a) or (b) of that Part of that Schedule,

(b) a change in the national market share (within the meaning of Part IV of that Schedule) of one or more national newspapers (within the meaning of that Part of that Schedule), or

(c) a change in the local market share (within the meaning of that Part of that Schedule) in a particular area of one or more local newspapers (within the meaning of that Part of that Schedule).

(8) In this section “relevant change”, in relation to a body to which a licence has been awarded or granted, means—

(a) any change affecting the nature or characteristics of the body,

(b) any change in the persons having control over or interests in the body, or

(c) any other change giving rise to a failure to comply with any requirement imposed by or under Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act,

being (in any case) a change which is such that, if it fell to the Authority to determine whether to award the licence to the body in the new circumstances of the case, they would be induced by the change to refrain from so awarding it.