§ Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the cost of the annual subsidy paid to British Telecom to finance ship-to-shore radio stations; what has been the cost per annum for the last five years; and if he will break down the cost by reference to(a) MF, (b) VHF, (c) HF, (d) NAVTEX and (e) weather broadcasts.
§ Mr. David MitchellThe Department pays no annual subsidy to British Telecom. Payments for various categories of broadcast messages over the past five years are summarised in the following table, but the information is not available in precisely the form requested: