asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will ensure that audibility of the British Broadcasting Corporation world service to United Kingdom listeners will not be reduced by any changes in the transmitters; and whether he will make a statement about the improvement of reception of the British Broadcasting Corporation world service to the rest of the United Kingdom.

The BBC world service is intended for overseas listeners. The fact that parts of the United Kingdom have been able to receive it is an accidental by-product of the transmission. I am advised that the BBC's plans to install new transmitters to improve audibility overseas may reduce reception in the United Kingdom, but that the precise effects cannot be evaluated at this stage.