HL Deb 10 December 1985 vol 469 cc197-8WA
Lord Aylestone

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, when considering applications for community radio licences, they will take into account any infringements of the Wireless Telegraphy Acts in which the applicants may have been involved.

Lord Glenarthur

My right honourable friend will consider applications for the experimental community radio licences on the basis of their individual merits, in the light of advice from the advisory panel on conmmunity radio. He will take into account all considerations that are relevant to applicants' ability to provide a service which reflects the interests of the community concerned, bearing in mind the aim of the experiment of testing the viability of and scope for a range of different types of community radio set up and financed in different ways. Previous involvement in unlicensed broadcasting will of itself be regarded neither as a bar to nor a qualification for a licence.