HC Deb 05 March 1985 vol 74 cc445-7W
Mr. Gale

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what conclusions he has reached on the recommendations of the Merriman report of the independent review of the radio spectrum, 30–960 MHz.

Mr. Pattie

I am grateful to Dr. Merriman and his colleagues, Air Vice Marshal Foden and Mr. P. M. Vine, for their helpful and constructive report (published in July 1983 as Cmnd. 9000). The Government share the views expressed in it as to the importance of radio regulation to a wide range of industry, service and other users and welcome the many recommendations it contains which are directed towards ensuring that this task is more effectively discharged. In the 18 months since the report was submitted, the recommendations have been studied in detail and several have already been put into effect.

A number of the recommendations concerned the optimum location within the machinery of government for the regulation of radio: these have been overtaken by the transfer of the radio regulatory division to my Department in June 1983. With the exceptions noted in the following paragraphs 2 and 9, the Government accept all the other recommendations in the report and the action they are taking is as follows. (References are to the relevant paragraph numbers in the report.)

  1. 1. Exceptional steps are being taken to overcome current difficulties in recruiting the specialist staff needed to carry out RRD's work in the way envisaged in the report. In particular, it has now been agreed that an allowance will be paid to radio spectrum engineers to assist in the recruitment, selection and retention of qualified staff. The staff complement has been increased to allow for more monitoring of the spectrum (9.30), and as staff levels increase, more effort will be devoted to planning for broadcasting ancillary and fixed services (4.12 and 4.25) and to involvement in research into systems and propagation (12.7). Staff exchanges with industry will be introduced when staffing levels permit (12.12).
  2. 2. The existing structure of consultative bodies on radio regulatory matters will be reviewed and if necessary strengthened or extended; in the light of that review further consideration will be given to whether there is a case for establishing a small high-level expert body as recommended in the report (9.14).
  3. 3. Regular reviews, on a user group basis, of spectrum usage and technical developments will be instituted (9.8). A forward planning unit has been set up in recognition of the long time scales involved in bringing about major changes in the pattern of use (4.28).
  4. 4. The allocation of spectrum for defence purposes will be reviewed periodically by an independent committee, reporting jointly to my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Defence and for Trade and Industry (9.19). The members of the committee who will be asked to carry out the first review will be appointed later this year.
  5. 5. A study is being commissioned of the feasibility of the management of spectrum via the price mechanism (11.16)
  6. 6. Economic expertise is already being applied to frequency management questions and the possible use of cost benefit analysis or similar techniques will be explored (9.23). Some steps have already been taken to adjust licence fees in support of frequency management objectives, and further adjustments will be made (9.27).
  7. 7. The frequency allocation table for the UK will be published later this year (9.10). Effort will be devoted to improving the quantity and quality of other published material which might be of value to users of radio and, staff levels permitting, it is hoped to publish annual reports on the work of RRD beginning the financial year 1985–86 (9.6 and 9.9).
  8. 8. Frequency assignment responsibility will continue to be delegated to common interest groups of users where this is compatible with the efficient and interference free use of the spectrum. The scope for it may, however, in practice be limited. In bands where the responsibility for assignment remains with the 447 Government, it is hoped that common interest user groups can, by excercising a degree of self-regulation, play a useful role in achieving fuller and more equitable use of the spectrum (10.13).
  9. 9. In newly available land mobile bands particularly, preference will be given to the establishment of new service providing systems (for example trunked common base stations) (10.17). Where appropriate, fixed time limits will be set to frequency assignments (10.23); but I am not convinced that provisional assignments (10.26) are necessary, the need identified in the report being already met by existing procedures.