Local Radio Stations (Guernsey and Jersey)

HC Deb 10 June 1981 vol 6 cc137-8W

Mr. Cryer

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost of opening and staffing local radio stations in Guernsey and Jersey; and what contribution is to be made from those islands to either the Treasury or the British Broadcasting Corporation for the services so provided.

Mr. Mayhew

The BBC estimates that the capital costs for the proposed BBC local radio services for Guernsey and Jersey would be some £82,000 and £98,000 respectively and that the operating costs would be some £70,000 a year for each service. The BBC's home services—of which its local radio services are, and those proposed for Jersey and Guernsey would be, part—are financed from the net revenue from the television licence fees which are payable in Jersey and Guernsey, as in the United Kingdom.