TELEVISING OF SELECT AND STANDING COMMITTEES

That this House shares the concern reported in The House Magazine of 19th April over the way the televising of Select and Standing Committees can be something of a lottery because of a haphazard pricing structure which can result in broadcasting organisations being asked to pay up to ú2,000 for the television feed of a two-and-a-half-hour Committee hearings; believes that Committee hearings which are of interest on editorial grounds should not go unrecorded soley because of cost; and calls on the Lord President of the Council and the Broadcasting Select Committee to have discussions with the independent contractor, CCT Productions Ltd., so as to agree a pricing structure which meets the needs of the smaller regional companies and programmes as well as those of the national news networks.