§ 10. Mr. Ben Chapman (Wirral, South)If he will make a statement on the siting of mobile phone masts. [81547]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Tony McNulty)Planning controls on telecommunications development are aimed at facilitating the provision of a modern telecommunications network while protecting the environment.
A code of practice encouraging greater consultation between mobile phone operators and local authorities was published on 11 November. The code is a guide to 634 the siting of mobile phone masts produced jointly by representatives of central and local government and the mobile phone industry.
§ Mr. ChapmanAlthough the code of best practice is certainly a step in the right direction, does my hon. Friend agree that, rightly or otherwise, there is still considerable public misgiving about the health risks associated with the siting of masts? Does he agree that those perceptions need to be addressed, however misguided they may or may not be, and that operators and communities need to consult more, and more openly, about the siting of masts in future?
§ Mr. McNultyI am certainly aware of the concerns expressed by my hon. Friend. He knows that, among other changes, we have strengthened public consultation requirements on proposals for masts 15 m or less high, so that they are the same as those for planning applications. We have also increased the time for an authority to deal with prior-approval applications to 56 days, increased fees to enable authorities to carry out full public consultation, and underlined the fact that school governors must be consulted on all proposals for new masts on or near a school or college. We have no immediate plans to amend the planning arrangements further, but we keep things constantly under review.
§ Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham)Given the importance of maximising the effectiveness of mobile phone use, and simultaneously, of minimising the inconvenience of mast locations, will the hon. Gentleman tell the House what assessment he has made of the potential effectiveness of cross-network roaming?
§ Mr. McNultyThe short answer is no, I cannot tell the hon. Gentleman—but I shall be more than happy to write to him. I simply repeat that we have no plans to go beyond the amendments that we have already made to the regulation framework, although the matter is kept constantly under review. We have taken full cognisance of the Stewart report, but as for cross-network roaming, we will have a cup of tea later.