asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what annual payment he will now receive from Westminster Cathedral for the licence for the device now installed to enable deaf persons to hear the services;(2) if he will introduce regulations to relieve churches and other religious assembly halls of the obligation to pay an annual licence fee for the installation of an electrical loop to enable the hard of hearing to hear.

The licence fee for radio induction communication systems used to assist the hard of hearing in such places as churches and halls is £5·60 for five years. There are difficulties in exempting any particular category of user from the licensing requirement but we are looking at the wider possibility of exempting low power devices generally.