The Secretary of State for Health said the reduction was a magnificent achievement and reflected

The Secretary of State for Health said the reduction was a "magnificent achievement" and reflected the "massive efforts" of NHS staff. The Conservatives, however, accused Mr Dobson of fiddling the figures. The BBC said it misjudged the different nature of the Christmas night audience.. A FALL in the number of people waiting for NHS treatment in England means the Government has fulfilled its pledge to cut queues to below pre- election levels, Frank Dobson said yesterday. The BBC admitted its mistake after the Broadcasting Standards Commission yesterday upheld complaints from 18 viewers about the content of the programme.

However, the ITC can fine channels or even take away licences. The BSC has few powers.While the ITC praised ITV for increasing its ratings and introducing new programmes, a detailed reading of the channel's performance showed it now airs the lowest amount of current affairs in its history. ITV produced just one hour and 25 minutes of current affairs per week in 1998. In 1997, the regulator had asked ITV to increase the amount of factual programming it broadcasts and last year it doubled its 1997 output.

However, most of the new programmes were so-called docu-soaps, or observational documentaries, and the ITC wants ITV to return to more thoughtful documentaries.The BBC has admitted it was wrong to allow a number of jokes about masturbation in the Christmas Day episode of Men Behaving Badly. The Broadcasting Standards Commission said its erotic series, Compromising Situations and Hotline, raised significant issues about whether programmes that include sex for sex's sake should be allowed on free-to-air channels in the UK.At the time, Channel 5's chief executive, David Elstein, called the BSC "anachronistic and patronising" for imposing its taste on the public. THE GOVERNMENT'S television watchdog has taken the highly unusual step of describing Channel 5 as "tacky" in its annual report, because of the broadcaster's use of sex to attract viewers. ITV was also criticised for failing to broadcast more current affairs programmes and for having only "adequate" coverage of the Nato action in Yugoslavia during prime time this month. The Independent Television Commission, which regulates commercial channels, singled out Channel 5's late-night "erotic dramas" and factual shows for criticism in its evaluation of how each channel performed during 1998.Channel 5 was criticised for having a high number of breaches of the ITC programme code during the year and for "the tackiness associated with an increased use of low-budget erotic drama in the evening and of various factual programmes on sexual themes".Factual programmes such as The Real Monty, Swindon Superbabes, Stags and Hens and On the Piste were described as "overly voyeuristic" while the explicitness of Sex and Shopping was "unsuitable for broadcast at any time".This is the second serious criticism of the channel this year. The ASA felt that this did not represent a general attempt on the part of advertisers to shock but instead reflected a high degree of popular concern with a handful of campaigns.. The Talk Radio poster for a Lorraine Kelly show about prostitution showed a woman's naked buttocks with one cheek stamped with a barcode.Overall, the number of complaints increased over the previous year (12,217 as against 10,676 in 1997). This is our mission."Other ads that attracted complaints included ones for Nicky Clarke shampoo and Talk Radio.

The shampoo commercial showed a naked woman perched on the shoulders of a naked man washing his hair in a shower and received 131 complaints. The Sunday Times provoked 142 complaints with a poster designed to promote a series on the photographer Terry O'Neill. The ASA agreed that the image of a bearskin bikini-clad female model on the cross was "tasteless, provocative and blasphemous to Christians".The authority also took a similarly dim view of a Diesel jeans magazine and poster advertisement that featured four young women dressed as nuns from the waist up, wearing jeans and holding rosaries Behind was the Virgin Mary, also in jeans "Pure virginal 100 per cent cotton," read the copy "The finest denim clothing. His tragic demise was brought on by the breakdown of his wheel. "Kevin grew bored and died," said a voiceover, before the dead creature was prodded with a pencil.The film prompted 519 complaints, a level of outrage broadly comparable to that provoked by Irn-Bru. The Independent Television Commission ruled that it did not breach its code, but insisted that it be broadcast after the 9pm watershed.The other common theme of the year was public concern about the depiction of religion and related symbols.

"When I'm a burger," she says, "I want to be washed down with Irn-Bru." According to the annual report of the Advertising Standards Authority, published today, the bovine musings prompted 589 complaints - the most for a single poster or press advertisement last year. The watchdog, which polices non-broadcast advertisements in the UK, disagreed with the complainants, concluding that the majority seeing it would not be offended. But the Irn-Bru cow and a press ad for TCP throat lozenges featuring a man with a tiger wrapped around his neck have prompted warnings from the ASA that advertisers need to take more care when portraying animals. "In past reports," the statement said, "the ASA has highlighted the need for advertisers to be more aware of public sensitivities when portraying women."But in 1998, those that attracted most complaints caused problems because of their portrayal of animals."The ASA's identification of a national unease about the commercial exploitation of sundry furry animals tallies with concerns expressed about television commercials.The most controversial TV ad of last year featured a dead pet hamster called Kevin. A MOURNFUL looking Jersey cow peers out of what has emerged as the most reviled poster advertisement of 1998. The council wants new laws that will lead to planning consent being refused where there is already an excessive supply of land to quarry.The Government is currently waiting for the quarrying industry to make proposals on how it can minimise harm caused to the countryside but the council believes voluntary measures will be insufficient.Ms Richmond added: "Minerals planning policy risks being stuck in a time warp as the Government begins to green up its act on transport and new housing."We need a fresh approach which protects the countryside from damaging quarries and reduces the demand for building materials."From Matlock Bathby John BetjemanHow long before the pleasant acresOf intersecting Lovers' WalksAre rolled across by limestone breakers,Whole woodlands snapp'd like cabbage stalks?O God, our help in ages past,How long will Speedwell Cavern last?. As you visit areas of south-west England or northern England particularly, you can see huge swaths of landscape have been cut out. This has major implications for our cultural history."The council has used parts of the countryside with strong literary associations to illustrate the threat posed to the environment by extraction of minerals such as sand, gravel and crushed rock.Its report, Quarry Conflicts, is published at a time when the Government is reviewing its quarrying policy.In addition to areas that have already been scarred, local authorities have permission to quarry a further four and a half billion tons of minerals.