Mr Iain Sproat: The Government's policy on Channel 4 funding remains as set out during the passage of the Broadcasting Act 1996—to remove mandatory payments to the reserve immediately and to reduce the liability for payments to channel 3 in two stages in 1998 and 1999.
Mr Iain Sproat: My hon. Friend makes a good point about the profits of Channel 4, on which I congratulate the company. I well remember his brief, yet powerful, speech on 18 June in favour of the privatisation of Channel 4. The Government have made no decision about privatising the channel, but we keep all options under review.
Mr Iain Sproat: I have no doubt that the Government will take full account of what happens in New York and in Channel 4 when considering all the options.
Mr Iain Sproat: We have had discussions with Channel 4 about rejigging the funding formula, and will have further discussions as seem appropriate. As far as privatisation is concerned, I will support the Government line.
Mr Iain Sproat: No such assessment has been made. It was for the Director General of the National Lottery to decide whether to allow a midweek draw, and the impact of the draw on betting turnover was not a consideration that he was able to take into account.
Mr Iain Sproat: My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point about the racing industry, which has an excellent champion in him. The Home Office is considering whether more deregulatory measures could be introduced to help the gaming industry.
Mr Iain Sproat: I am grateful to the hon. Member for Leigh (Mr. Cunliffe) for raising these important issues, and giving the House the opportunity to debate them. There is widespread concern in the country about standards of taste and decency on television. The Government strongly believe that there is no place for hard-core pornography in a society that cares about the protection of children. Hard-core...
Mr Iain Sproat: I thank the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Miss Hoey) for raising this important subject, and for allowing my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Sir I. Patnick) to say a few words. He has done tremendous work to promote Sheffield, especially with regard to sport, and I am grateful to him for the advice that he has given me in the past few months on a range of sporting issues. I look...
Mr Iain Sproat: The hon. Lady raises an important point about the home country sports councils. The initial judgment on who we reckon is the best contender—there may be three contenders; it depends what happens with the lottery application—will be made by my Department and the United Kingdom Sports Council. The UK Sports Council, as the hon. Lady knows, has on its board the chairmen of all the home...
Mr Iain Sproat: The Sports Council, which is funded by my Department, provided £125,558 in support of rugby union football in England in 1995ߝ96, of which £80,000 went to the Rugby Football Union for the development of the game at grass-roots level and £45,558 for the development of the game in the regions. In addition, since November 1992, Sportsmatch has awarded nearly £1.4 million for...
Mr Iain Sproat: I will certainly use my good offices, such as they are. Even as we speak, the home countries rugby football unions are discussing with the television authorities the money that they might get from televising games. I agree with the hon. Gentleman about wanting as much as possible of that money to go to youth and district sport and about ensuring that clubs that he knows well, such as Hawick,...
Mr Iain Sproat: I will do everything I can that is proper to ensure that the governing bodies know the view of the Government—and, indeed, of the House—that as much as possible of the money that they get from television sports rights should go into youth sport.
Mr Iain Sproat: Broadcasters will need to invest in programming if they are to attract viewers in the increasingly diverse and competitive television market. The Government have no plans to introduce further regulation of cable and satellite broadcasters.
Mr Iain Sproat: The answer to the hon. Gentleman's first question is no. The answer to his second question is that I shall consider the matter carefully in light of what the BBC, in particular, said last week.
Mr Iain Sproat: What my hon. Friend says is true: it is good news. We must remember that this country has become the satellite capital of Europe, and we want to keep it that way.
Mr Iain Sproat: I am sure that the whole House will want to offer tremendous congratulations to Damon Hill on his magnificent achievement. As for the second part of the hon. Gentleman's question—that matter was debated at great length during the passage of the Broadcasting Bill. The hon. Gentleman will know that the listed events have been protected and that there is now a code that means that any...
Mr Iain Sproat: My hon. Friend is right. Access to watch sporting events has greatly increased. The amount of money that has come into the sport will benefit it enormously. Some £700-odd million has been invested in soccer. The rugby deal is still being discussed—£87.5 million is already on the cards—and £40-odd million is to go to cricket. In answer to the earlier question of the hon. Member for...
Mr Iain Sproat: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have regular meetings with the governing bodies of football.
Mr Iain Sproat: The hon. Gentleman raises an extremely important point. What happened to Manchester United the last time it visited Turkey was disgraceful, but that is unusual. Leeds at Eindhoven was another example. But by and large—I have investigated this matter as far as I can—there is no evidence that British fans are picked on when they go abroad. I very much hope that Manchester United fans get a...
Mr Iain Sproat: I agree with my hon. Friend without reservation.
