§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to increase the charge made by the Radiocommunications Agency in cases of interference to domestic broadcast reception where complainants ask the agency to inspect their equipment.
Mr. McLouglinI have decided that there should be a modest increase in the charge from £31 to £35. This charge 457W is applicable when the private sector is unable to effect a cure and complainants ask for an inspection by the agency. It is the first rise in two years and is in line with rises in costs in the private sector.
The work of curing domestic interference, which is often due to poor immunity to unwanted signals in television and radio receiving equipment, should be done in the first instance by the private sector. This enables the Radiocommunications Agency to devote greater resources to investigating illegal radio use and to business radio users. In 1993 the agency received 556 requests for help with interference to broadcast reception.
There is still no charge for investigating a named source of interference.