§ Mr. Giles Shawasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his plans for the extension of local radio include the increased use of vhf frequencies; and what proposals he has for using the space now available on the vhf band.
§ Mr. Merlyn Rees:The intention is to continue the present policy of providing both mf and vhf transmitters for each local radio station unless, as envisaged in paragraph 33(a) of the White Paper on Broadcasting (Cmnd. 7294), circumstances arise in which a departure from this practice seems advisable.
The expression"vhf"covers all frequencies between 30 and 300 megahertz. For information about proposals for the future use of this part of the radio frequency spectrum I refer the hon. Gentleman to sections 5 and 6 of the Home Office publication"Preparation for the World Administrative Radio Conference 1979 ", copies of which are available in the Library of the House.