§ 3.22 p.m.
§ Lord ORR-EWINGMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government why, when applying for authority to operate radio-telephone equipment on hoard a United Kingdom registered vessel, British applicants have to give (a) their height, (b) their complexion and (c) any physical distinguishing marks in addition to a passport photograph; and how long does it take to process such applications.
§ Lord BELSTEADMy Lords, the particulars in question are required as evidence of identity of the applicant, and are recorded on the certificate when issued as a protection against the fraudulent use of a certificate by any other person. It normally takes about two weeks to process applications and issue certificates, but industrial action has recently caused delay in the printing of certificates and this has held up their issue. We hope that this difficulty will soon be resolved, and in the meantime successful applicants are being authorised to operate in anticipation of the issue of a formal printed certificate.
§ Lord ORR-EWINGMy Lords, will my noble friend examine whether an applicant's height or complexion is going to help in the capability of operating radiotelephone equipment? Is he aware that one extra question on every official form that must be filled in wastes the time of the applicant, wastes the time of the civil servants who have to deal with it and adds to the import of expensive newsprint? Will he now, in the interests of saving waste at Whitehall, consider asking Sir Derek Rayner perhaps to set up a sub-committee to examine all the forms that people must fill in and consider whether some economies might be made by streamlining them?
§ Lord BELSTEADMy Lords, T agree with my noble friend that we want to do away with unnecessary form-filling where possible. So far as the noble Lord's Question to me today is concerned, if a certificate of this nature came into the possession of someone who was not properly qualified to operate maritime radio and that person thereby managed to get into a position of operating a ship's radio, then safety at sea could be jeopardised. I think that these certificates are in a special situation; but I am only too 2044 ready to pass on to the appropriate quarter the suggestion which my noble friend made in his supplementary question.
§ Lord ORR-EWINGMy Lords, is my noble friend aware that safety at sea and in the air was the excuse given by the Post Office for preventing broadcasting in this country for some years after it existed in Holland and France? When Dame Nellie Melba made a broadcast the Post Office said that it was most irresponsible to use wireless waves for such a trivial undertaking as entertainment. It seems that the same excuse has come out of the same pigeon-hole 55 years later. Will my noble friend bear in mind that the capability of a person to operate a radio telephone is not affected by either complexion or height?
§ Lord BELSTEADMy Lords, I think that the argument about the late Dame Nellie Melba was that she took up too much room on the radio frequencies. If I may say so, seriously, this is not a question about radio frequencies, although it is true that my right honourable friend the Home Secretary is the Minister who issues the certificates. The point about these certificates is that they are to protect the competence of people operating radio telephones, and therefore safety at sea. However, I may repeat that, of course, I am ready to examine this matter again in the light of my noble friend's Question.