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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

Yes, my Lords; but Ofcom, of course, operates within the constraints established in existing legislation. On the noble Lord’s suggestion that this might give rise to tensions between the department and Ofcom, I have no doubt that in an extreme case, where the issue was of such substance that Ofcom was convinced of very substantial investment being necessary, it is inconceivable that the Secretary of State and his department would not be clearly aware of such issues and would not be very much part of the public debate which had identified the nature of the threat to the public of the loss of plurality of services. It is not as if, under this Bill, Ofcom is operating in a vacuum in which wider considerations are not taken into account. In fact, as we have indicated all along, Ofcom is to take firmly into account the interests of citizens and consumers. The noble Lord, Lord Fowler, would be the first to identify the fact that when we ask Ofcom to do that, we expect it to be all too well aware of the points being made by Ministers, by informed opinion in the other place, and, dare I say it, by informed opinion in this place too, of which the noble Lord’s committee might be an important part.