Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Lab)

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, began with an apology and I must do the same, because I did not leave my office soon enough and I missed the first few paragraphs of the speech by the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, to whom I personally apologise, and I apologise to the House in general for that. As the noble Lord, Lord Russell, said, I am the chair of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, but I speak today in an entirely personal capacity. The noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, has actually left very little to say—so I will say very little. I certainly agreed with the important points he highlighted and went into in some detail. The gaps remaining in those codes are a genuine concern. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Ofcom have pointed to the fact that they are simply the first iteration. That may well be the case, but both will need to ensure that any shortcomings that emerge are addressed at the earliest opportunity, and I hope it may be possible for my noble friend, whom I welcome to her post on the Front Bench, to offer an assurance that the necessary legislative changes that result from the shortcomings will be implemented as a matter of priority. Anything else would be entirely inappropriate, and indeed perhaps even unforgivable.