§ Mr. Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the number of warning and monitoring posts staffed by the Royal Observer Corps which have modern communication systems.
§ Mr. MayhewThe United Kingdom warning and monitoring organisation has 870 monitoring posts staffed by the Royal Observer Corps for detecting and reporting nuclear bursts and radioactive fallout in the event of war. All posts are linked by landline to a parent sector or group control. A major programme initiated in 1980 to convert these links to dedicated private wires and replace their terminals with new loud-speaking telephones is nearing completion.
In each cluster of two, three or four posts, one post responsible for the collation of local information is equipped with radio. Re-equipment with new VHF sets has been started in the south of England and is due to be completed by 1985.