Education, Culture and Sport Committee, 29 Oct 2002

Meeting date: Tuesday, October 29, 2002

Official Report 193KB pdf

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Scottish Media Group

We move to the next item on the agenda, which deals with correspondence from the Department of Trade and Industry on the Scottish Media Group plc sell-off. It is gratifying to see so many representatives of the press in the gallery to report what we have to say on education and Scottish museums, which we will deal with in a later part of the meeting. We will watch to see who leaves.

Members will have received the response to the letter that I wrote to Melanie Johnson, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Competition, Consumers and Markets, in relation to the proposed sale of newspapers that are owned by SMG.

How do members wish to proceed on the matter, if at all? My initial suggestion is that we welcome the minister's clarification on the issue of the sale, but that we write to her again because the content of her letter suggests to me that, if the newspapers were sold to the current highest bidder—Ellerman Investments, which is wholly owned by the Barclay brothers, the owners of Scotsman Publications Ltd—the matter would be considered under the special newspaper merger regime because it would concern a media group's owning yet more of the Scottish media. It would be useful to ask the minister whether that will be the case and to put that clarification on record.

I would be entirely happy with that. It is clear that Ellerman Investments is linked directly to another UK newspaper proprietor. The convener's suggested action is particularly appropriate in view of the committee's support for the maintenance of the independence and diversity of the much-loved Scottish press.

I am not entirely sure what purpose would be served by our writing to the minister. I am sure that, when a bid is on the table, the minister will be well aware of whether it will need to be considered in the way that is outlined in her letter. We should merely note the minister's letter and leave the relevant department to get on with the job that, as a British department, it will be more than capable of doing.

I do not disagree with Brian Monteith's concluding remarks, but there is no harm in writing to the minister as you suggest, convener. It is important that we do not sit idly by and risk people not understanding our position. Any further coalescence of media ownership in Scotland would tend to cut down the diversity of our freedom of expression. We must guard against that and express the view that developments in this area should be examined carefully.

I am in no doubt that a department of the United Kingdom Government will act wholly properly in relation to any matter; I hope that members understand that that is my view. However, given that there is a view that Ellerman Investments is not the same company as Scotsman Publications and that its bid should not therefore be dealt with under the special newspaper regime, I think that it would be useful for us to put on record the committee's view that, in light of the information that the minister has given us and of information that is in the public domain, the matter should be dealt with under the special newspaper regime. Unless members wish to move otherwise, that is what I will do.

To what extent do you think the Education, Culture and Sport Committee has a locus in the matter rather than the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee, given that the matter concerns a business transaction?

I am prepared for the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee to deal with the matter as well, which is why I sent Alex Neil a copy of my letter to Melanie Johnson.

I believe that this committee's responsibilities for culture, education and sport mean that we have a locus in the matter. We need to point out that the diversity and plurality of Scotland's media is something from which we benefit and that it would be helpful for that to continue. I will write to the minister in those terms. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.