HC Deb 04 April 1979 vol 965 cc749-50W
Mr. Warren

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take action to obtain further radio frequencies to assist the BBC to expand Radio 3 medium wave length transmissions to that half of the United Kingdom land area which cannot receive these transmissions at present and in which VHF transmissions are often impossible to receive.

Mr. Merlyn Rees

There is little prospect of additional medium wave radio

Immigration Service grades General Service grades Total
Complement In post Complement In post Complement In post
Senior staff 5 5 5 5
Terminal 1 119 119 8 8 127 127
Terminal 2 146 147 10 10 156 157
Terminal 3 269 264 25 23 294 287
Harmondsworth 37 36 11 13 48 49
TOTAL 576 571 54 54 630 625

Mr. Skeet

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will compare the work load of Her Majesty's immigration office, Heathrow over the past five years, particularly the number of immigrants interviewed.

Mr. John

Details of arriving passengers dealt with by the Immigration Service at Heathrow over the past five years are:

frequency spectrum becoming available for broadcasting use.

It remains primarily for the BBC to determine how best to deploy the available medium wave frequencies to provide and extend the coverage of their networked radio services including the Radio 3 service, which the BBC tells me extends to some 87 per cent. of the population. The BBC also tells me that Radio 3 VHF coverage, which listeners in areas where medium wave coverage is unsatisfactory are advised to use, reaches some 99.5 per cent. of the population.

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