Media Bill: call for evidence
23 November 2023
Do you have relevant expertise and experience or a special interest in the Media Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament?
If so, you can submit your views in writing to the House of Commons Public Bill Committee which is going to consider this Bill.
|
The Public Bill Committee is now able to receive written evidence. The sooner you send in your submission, the more time the Committee will have to take it into consideration. The Public Bill Committee will scrutinise the Bill line by line. The first sitting of the Public Bill Committee is expected to be on Tuesday 5 December and the Committee is scheduled to report by Thursday 14 December. However, please note that when the Committee concludes its consideration of the Bill it is no longer able to receive written evidence and it can conclude earlier than the expected deadline of 5.00pm on Thursday 14 December. You are strongly advised to submit your written evidence as soon as possible. |
Aims of the Bill
According to the Bill’s Explanatory Notes (PDF), the Bill would:
- update the legislative framework for public service broadcasting (PSB), including provisions to facilitate the delivery of public service content through digital platforms.
- introduce provisions so that public service content on designated services is available online.
- introduce provisions to address the sustainability challenges faced by Channel 4.
- apply the Bill’s changes to PSB to S4C, while retaining the Welsh language content requirement.
- give Ofcom, the communications regulator, new powers to draft and enforce a Video-on-Demand Code.
- update the regulatory framework for commercial radio.
- protect UK radio’s availability on connected audio devices.
- repeal section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 which would (if commenced) force news publishers to pay the costs of any court judgment if they were not a member of the approved regulator, regardless of the outcome of the court judgment.
Follow the progress of the Media Bill
The Media Bill was introduced in Parliament on 8 November 2023. The debate on second reading was held on 21 November 2023.
- Bills before Parliament: Media Bill
- Read Explanatory Notes: Media Bill
- House of Commons Library Briefing Paper
The DCMS has published an Overarching Impact Assessment (PDF) as well as impact assessments on the Bill’s parts. An ECHR Memorandum (PDF) and a Delegated Powers Memorandum (PDF) have also been published.
No oral evidence sessions are expected to be held on this Bill.
Guidance on submitting written evidence
Deadline for written evidence submissions
The Public Bill Committee is now able to receive written evidence. The sooner you send in your submission, the more time the Committee will have to take it into consideration and possibly reflect it in an amendment. The order in which amendments are taken in Committee will be available in due course under Selection of Amendments on the Bill documents pages. Once the Committee has dealt with an amendment it will not revisit it.
The first sitting of the Public Bill Committee is expected to be on Tuesday 5 December and the Committee is scheduled to report by Thursday 14 December. However, please note that when the Committee concludes its consideration of the Bill it is no longer able to receive written evidence and it can conclude earlier than the expected deadline of 5.00pm on Thursday 14 December. You are strongly advised to submit your written evidence as soon as possible.
Your submission should be emailed to scrutiny@parliament.uk
Further guidance on submitting written evidence can be found here.
Image: Parliamentary Copyright