Broadcasting (Hansard, 17 November 1977)

§ 11. Mr. Rathbone
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to issue a White Paper on the Government's proposals on the future constitution, structure and organisation of broadcasting in the United Kingdom.

§ Mr. Merlyn Rees
I hope to be able to present a White Paper setting out the Government's proposals for the future constitution, structure and organisation of broadcasting in the new year.

§ Mr. Rathbone
I am grateful to the Home Secretary for the assurance that it is coming soon. There have been reports recently that in the meantime he will have to consider extending the BBC Charter and IBA Licence. Can he reassure the House that, when he considers that, he will require of the BBC reconsideration of its misconceived plans to realign frequencies in its radio spectrum, particularly for Radio 3 and Radio 4?

§ Mr. Rees
The Annan Report was published in the middle part of the year. There have been many suggestions put to me, but there is only one way to deal with the problem, and that is to produce a White Paper. Legislative proposals will eventually be put forward which will affect broadcasting for the next 15 years. I do not accept suggestions about delay. We shall have to see what the White Paper says. In view of the date of renewal of the BBC Charter and the extension of the life of the IBA, there may well be a time—it depends on the legislative programme—when we shall have to deal in different ways with the Authority and the Corporation for a time. It would not be appropriate to deal with the question of broadcasting wavelengths in the way that the hon. Gentleman suggests.

§ Mr. Greville Janner
While we await the White Paper, will my right hon. Friend assure those who do such tremendous work in BBC local radio stations, such as Radio Leicester, that their future is assured and that they will continue to receive resources sufficient to enable them not only to maintain but to extend those services?

§ Mr. Rees
Obviously, until the White Paper with the Government's first proposals is published it would be wrong for me to give my thinking on that matter. However, as regards Radio Leicester and also the excellent station in Leeds, if I may say so I am very interested in what they do. I know that the BBC, too, is very interested in what goes on in Radio Leeds.

§ Mr. Grist
When drawing up his White Paper, will the Home Secretary bear in mind the considerable ill-feeling in Cardiff because, when the Annan Committee was established, it robbed Cardiff of its right, as the twentieth station in the IBA network, to have its own independent radio station?

§ Mr. Rees
I am not sure about the "robbing" part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question, but, whatever eventually happens, there will be an extension of local broadcasting. The Government must ask the House to decide the way in which that will be done. There is no doubt that local broadcasting will expand in the years to come. Since it is a new development, the decision on the structure through which it will work is another matter. Whether Cardiff should have a BBC or independent station is also another matter.