§ Baroness Ramsay of Cartvaleasked Her Majesty's Government:
How they propose to respond to Professor Anthony Everitt's Report on the Radio Authority's access radio experiments.[HL2884]
§ The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Blackstone):The Government have considered Professor Everitt's report (New Voices: an evaluation of 15 access radio stations) and are minded to bring forward a draft order which would introduce a new tier of access radio stations once the Communications Bill becomes law. Before beginning to draft an order, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport will write to the Radio Authority, the Commercial Radio Companies Association and the Community Media Association so that they have an opportunity to express their views at this stage. The Government intend to produce a draft order for formal consultation in the autumn. No decisions have yet been taken on government funding.