§ Mr. Richard Pageasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps have been taken to establish and appoint members to a committee to review the allocation of spectrum for defence purposes as recommended in the Merriman report for the independent review of the radio spectrum 30–960 MHz Cmnd. 9000.
§ Mr. PattieFurther to my reply of 5 March 1985, at columns 448–49, the allocation of spectrum for defence purposes will be systematically reviewed on a continuing basis by an independent committee, reporting jointly to my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Defence and for Trade and Industry. The frequency band 470 MHz–3400 MHz will be the subject of the first stage of the review. The chairman of the defence spectrum review committee for this first stage will be Sir Kenneth Corfield. There will be two other members, Major-General Archibald Birtwistle and Mr. David Withers. It is hoped that the committee will be able to commence its work immediately and will complete the first stage in about 18 months. The first stage of the defence spectrum will run concurrently with a more general review of the allocations within the same frequency range. A joint report covering both reviews will be published.