§ Mr. Paul Deanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps he plans to take before any further increase in television licence fees to improve the service for people in the South-West who can only receive Welsh language programmes for part of the day;
(2) whether he will seek to exempt from any further increases in television licence fees people in the South-West who can only receive Welsh language programmes for part of the day.
§ Mr. JohnResponsibility for the provision and extension of their services rests with the broadcasting organisations—the BBC and the IBA. I do not foresee the early provision of alternative services for all those localities in the South-West where UHF reception, though possible, has to be from a station in Wales because they are screened by hills from the main852W transmitting station just north of Wells. The television licence fee is a standard payment for permission to use a television set and it is not varied in individual cases.