§ Mr. LepperTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on progress made by the Radiocommunications Agency in its audit of mobile phone base stations and masts and the assessment of emissions from them. [151129]
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 26 February 2001]: The Radiocommunications Agency's audit of mobile phone base stations started at the end of December 2000. The focus of the audit is schools with base stations located on their premises and these schools were asked to register with the RA to express an interest in their being included in the audit. 107 schools have registered their interest.
The first eight surveys have now been completed and the results are published on the RA website www.radio.gov.uk. All the surveys have shown emissions that will lead to exposure substantially inside the public exposure guidelines of the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). The 45W adoption of these guidelines was recommended by the Stewart Group, and this recommendation was accepted by the Government.