Minutes of the Fourteenth Meeting of the Ofcom Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland - Monday 30 April 2007

Members present:

Wallace Ewart (Chairman)
Sinead Boyle
Carol Burrows
Brian Collins
Michael McKernan
Jane Morrice
Una Murphy
Leslie Orr
Gerard Parr
Glyn Roberts

Apologies:

David Elliott

In attendance:

Denis Wolinski Ofcom Northern Ireland
Graham Howell Ofcom London
Paul Moore Ofcom Content Board Member for NI
Kevin McLaughlin Ofcom Consumer Panel Member for NI
Joanne McMullan Ofcom Northern Ireland
Jonathan Rose Ofcom Northern Ireland
Mark McLaughlin Ofcom Northern Ireland
Philip Morgan Ofcom Northern Ireland
William Garrood Ofcom London
Neil Stock Ofcom London

1. Welcome

1.1 The Chairman welcomed all present to the fourteenth meeting of the Ofcom Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland.

2. Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising

2.1 The minutes of the thirteenth meeting were agreed and signed.

2.2 Matters arising

2.2.1 It was confirmed that David Elliott would represent the Advisory Committee at BT's Regulatory Compliance Committee meetings.

2.2.2 It was confirmed that the Advisory Committee had submitted responses to both the Annual Plan and Digital Dividend Review consultations.

3. Director's Report

3.1 The Director presented his report.

3.2 There was discussion about the need for better signposting of broadcast material online - particularly in the context of traditional broadcasters increasingly offering content on-demand. Paul Moore made the point that this content will have been regulated elsewhere before appearing online and so the issue was really one of access control.

3.3 Members welcomed Ofcom's work on the liberalisation of Community Audio Distribution Services (CADS) and the ongoing investigation into the use by broadcasters of premium rate telephone services as part of television quiz shows.

3.4 Members were updated on the recent joint meeting of all four Advisory Committee Chairs at which it was agreed that the Chairs would meet around four times a year (probably twice in person and twice by telephone) with a view to synchronising Advisory Committee agendas with agendas of the main Ofcom Board, the Content Board and the Consumer Panel. It was also agreed that Committee members would in future have an opportunity to see Ofcom's 'Emerging Issues' papers.

4. Developments in PSB/The Future of News

4.1 PSP

William Garrood gave a presentation on the consultations for Public Service Publisher (PSP) and for The Future of News. He clarified that current thinking tended towards the PSP being a trusted online aggregator of existing content as well as commissioning new material. It would potentially provide an alternative to the BBC's online presence and could be based outside London.

4.2 The Future of Non-News

Joanne McMullan briefed the Committee on the forthcoming Future of Non-News project. Discussion followed as to the definition of 'news' and 'non-news' content and Committee members suggested that in the particular case of Northern Ireland, the availability and role of non-news content from channels in the Republic of Ireland needed to be taken into consideration.

5. The Future of Radio

5.1 Neil Stock gave a presentation on The Future of Radio consultation. Members asked for clarification on the potential for extending transmission areas for community radio stations and on developments in the take-up of DAB in the UK, including improvement to DAB sound quality.

6. Spectrum Update

6.1 Philip Morgan gave an update on spectrum issues. At members' request he elaborated on current co-operation with ComReg in the Republic of Ireland with regard to illegal radio stations in border areas.

7. The Future of Children's Programming

7.1 Jonathan Rose gave a briefing on the ongoing Future of Children's Programming project and reported on the local research with focus groups in Belfast and Londonderry/Derry. Members asked for further information on the research process.

Action: Jonathan Rose to provide more information on the research process.

8. Content Board update

8.1 Paul Moore updated the Committee on the work of the Content Board.

8.2 A discussion followed regarding the need for stronger internet regulation, particularly in the context of online availability of television content. Both Paul and Graham Howell re-iterated that Ofcom did not have a remit to regulate the internet and that the focus needed to be more on improving levels of media literacy so that both children and parents could make educated choices about what content they viewed.

9. Any Other Business

9.1 Members asked for the issue of inadvertent roaming to be covered at the next meeting of the Advisory Committee - in light of recent developments on this subject at the European level.

9.2 Graham Howell outlined the current process underway to recruit new Advisory Committee members. He noted the suggestion that members should be recruited for a 3 - 4 year period with the option to continue on for a further period should they want to.

9.3 The date of the next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 19 September 2007.