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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role the British Forces Broadcasting Service currently plays in civilian life; and whether he expects this role to change in the next five years.

[161409]

Asked by

Andrew Rosindell (Conservative)

Answering body

Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

25 June 2013

Reference

161409; 565 c153W

House

House of Commons

Broadcasting

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of (a) Services Sound and Vision Corporation and (b) its subsidiary British Forces Broadcasting Service in each of the last six years.

Asked by

Andrew George (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

18 July 2006

Reference

85019; 449 c344W

House

House of Commons

Armed Forces

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements are in place to provide entertainment to service personnel in (a) Iraq, (b) Afghanistan and (c) other countries where the military serve.

Asked by

Gordon Prentice (Labour)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

21 November 2005

Reference

439 c1558-9W;439 c1560-1W; 29400

House

House of Commons

Ministry of Defence

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effects of the recent decision by BSkyB to turn off BBC TV and radio on the provision of a TV and radio service for the British Forces living and working in Italy.

Asked by

Anthony Steen (Conservative)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

18 June 2003

Reference

119724; 407 c245W

House

House of Commons

Ministry of Defence

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make a statement on the showing of BBC News coverage to HM Forces deployed in the Persian Gulf.

Asked by

Andrew Rosindell (Conservative)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

28 April 2003

For answer on

6 May 2003

Answered on

6 May 2003

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the showing of BBC News coverage to HM forces deployed in the Persian Gulf. [110590] Mr. Ingram: The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) is produced by the Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC) under contract to the Ministry of Defence and provides radio and television services to most locations overseas where significant numbers of British forces are permanently stationed and, subject to practicality, to operational theatres. The television channels available to British land- based forces deployed in the Gulf have included two 24-hour BFBS channels, one of which includes: BBC `Breakfast', BBC 6 o'clock News and, until 26 April, BBC News at 10 o'clock. SSVC also re-broadcasts BBC `News 24' and `Sky News' as additional 24-hour news channels. To receive these channels, SSVC has installed a large number of stand alone satellite television systems, initially in Kuwait and more recently in Southern Iraq. For the British forces onboard ships equipped with stabilised receiver dishes (eg HMS Ark Royal and HMS Ocean) the fall range of television channels has been available, however many ships do not have this capability and therefore for those with connectivity to the Skynet satellites a single television channel capability has been developed. The programme content is specified by the Royal Navy and has during the past two months included BBC News 24, Sky News and some news programmes from the BFBS channels. RN and RFA ships and submarines without access to the Skynet satellites have not been capable of receiving live television but have been provided with a taped SSVC television service that specifically excludes news programmes due to its non-live nature. SSVC is providing two radio channels for the Gulf area: BFBS Radio 1 includes Independent Radio News (IRN) on the hour, plus each weekday the re-broadcast of several BBC Radio 4 and 5 programmes including PM, `6 o'clock News' and `The World Tonight'. BFBS Radio 2 also re-broadcasts, each weekday, the BBC Radio 4 `Today' programme in addition to the BBC News programmes included within the BFBS Radio 1 schedule.

Date

6 May 2003

Reference

110590; 404 c577-8W;404 c574W

House

House of Commons

Ministry of Defence

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his Answer of 21st January 2003, 398 c209W, when the Italian authorities declined to grant the use of a viable radio frequency from Lagopatria for the British Forces.

Asked by

Anthony Steen (Conservative)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

3 February 2003

Reference

94312; 399 c62W

House

House of Commons

Ministry of Defence

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made in erecting a radio mast in Lagopatria, north of Naples, to provide broadcasting services for the Armed Forces South British Services community.

Asked by

Anthony Steen (Conservative)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

21 January 2003

Reference

91215; 398 c209W

House

House of Commons

Ministry of Defence

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will establish a decoding card for those serving in the Armed Forces overseas with a digital box so that they can receive BFBS radio and television; and what evaluation has been made as to the merits of providing these services.

Asked by

Anthony Steen (Conservative)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

6 January 2003

For answer on

13 January 2003

Answered on

13 January 2003

Mr. Steen:: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will establish a decoding card for those serving in the Armed Forces overseas with a digital box so that they can receive BFBS radio and television; and what evaluation has been made as to the merits of providing these services. [89606] Dr. Moonie: Use of a decoding card in conjunction with a suitable set-top box would not in itself enable reception of British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) television and radio services as it is necessary to have an appropriately sized and correctly aligned satellite receiver dish in addition. The size and alignment of these dishes would not be the same as for those used by other broadcasters in the United Kingdom, e.g. BSkyB. Until recently all BFBS transmissions utilised low power satellites requiring large receiver dishes (of up to 4 metres diameter) not suitable for Direct-to-Home (DTK) down linking. This has meant that local transmission and reception has been via conventional terrestrial broadcasts requiring approval by the host nation and allocation of suitable frequencies. However, since December 2001 BFBS has used satellite capacity on Eutelsat W3 which enables radio and television broadcasts to be received on dishes no larger than 1.2 metres. As a result, it will become possible to dispense with local terrestrial transmission systems and move to DTH. Plans to do this in Germany are being finalised as part of the requirement to switch to digital broadcasting in that country and it is probable that other locations will follow in due course, dependent upon affordability. To protect programme rights holders, BFBS is introducing fully encrypted television services throughout the area covered by the Eutelsat W3. To date the Balkans and the Middle East are fully encrypted and proposals are being prepared to extend this to all other locations. The encryption service is delivered either via set top boxes (to single televisions) or via secure cable installations (again via decoders). Access at each set or cable head-end is controlled by digital cards. The BFBS radio channels can also be received via the set top boxes but in order to provide a Ml service e.g. in workshops, cars etc., radio is normally delivered via local terrestrial transmitters in the overseas Commands and operational theatres.

Date

13 January 2003

Reference

89606; 397 c406-7W;397 c404-5W

House

House of Commons

Ministry of Defence

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the places where British troops are serving abroad and whether they can (a) receive radio and (b) obtain newspapers; and if he will make a statement. - Includes ref to 'Global Location of Service Personnel', copy of which...

Asked by

Anthony Steen (Conservative)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

6 January 2003

For answer on

13 January 2003

Answered on

13 January 2003

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the places where British troops are serving abroad and whether they can (a) receive radio and (b) obtain newspapers; and if he will make a statement. [89605] Dr. Moonie: Information on the location of British forces serving abroad can be found in Tri-Service Publication (TSP) 6, "Global Location of Service Personnel", a copy of which is held in the House of Commons Library. This is published quarterly, the latest edition is as at 1 October 2002. Availability of British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) radio and/or television broadcasts depends upon a number of factors including host nation acceptance (including the provision of suitable broadcast frequencies where necessary), practicality and affordability; and is currently available in the following locations: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Location TV Radio North West Europe Belgium No Yes Germany Yes Yes Netherlands No Yes Rest of World Garrisons/Units Ascension Island Yes Yes Belize Yes Yes Brunei No Yes Canada (BATUS) Yes1 Yes Canada (Goose Bay) Yes No Cyprus Yes Yes Falkland Islands Yes Yes Gibraltar Yes Yes Italy (Naples) Yes No Deployed Operational Theatres Afghanistan Yes Yes Bosnia/Kosovo Yes Yes Greece (Sindos Camp) Yes No Kuwait Yes Yes Oman (Thumrait) Yes Yes Saudi Arabia Yes Yes Turkey Yes Yes HM Ships 1,2Yes 2No _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Recorded VHS tapes 2 Some larger ships are able to receive live satellite TV/Radio, others can receive when in port. Trials are being conducted on the practicality of providing BFBS to other HM ships via the "SCOT" broadcast system. Newspapers are supplied to HM Forces under a contract with Higgs International Ltd. to the following overseas countries/locations. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Country Location Abu Dhabi -- Afghanistan Kabul Belize -- Bosnia Various Brunei -- Canada Suffield; Wainwright; Ottawa; Goose Bay Croatia -- Cyprus Akrotiri; Dhekelia and Ayios Nikolaos Falkland Islands -- Germany Various Italy Naples and Valencia Kenya -- Kosovo -- Kuwait -- Macedonia -- Nepal -- Norway Stavanger and Reitan Saudi Arabia Riyadh Sierra Leone -- Turkey Incirlik USA Norfolk, Virginia _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Most personnel serving abroad, be they in permanent garrisons, training unit or liaison/exchange posts etc. will receive a Local Overseas Allowance (LOA) which is a compensatory, non-taxable allowance encompassing a wide range of factors including the ability to access English language radio, television and newspapers. Personnel deployed away from their normal place of duty on operation or exercise, in excess of two months, are provided with an Operational Welfare Package (OWP). The key elements of the OWP include 20 minutes of publicly funded telephone calls per week, internet access, mail, newspapers, books and where practical the provision of BFBS television and radio.

Date

13 January 2003

Reference

89605; 397 c407-8W;397 c405-6W

House

House of Commons

Ministry of Defence

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make arrangements to allow England rugby and football matches to be watched on the British Forces Broadcasting Service.

Asked by

James Gray (Conservative)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

16 December 2002

Reference

396 c508W; 86902

House

House of Commons

Ministry of Defence

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make funding available to British Forces Broadcasting Services to enable the temporary radio station for the Colchester Garrison to be made a permanent service. - Includes ref to 335 c533W, 21 July 1999.

Asked by

Bob Russell (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

31 January 2000

Reference

107166; 343 c412W

House

House of Commons

Ministry of Defence

Asked by

Bob Russell (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

21 July 1999

Reference

91793; 335 c533W;335 c535W

House

House of Commons

Untitled Written question

Whether the Services Sound and Vision Corporation or the British Forces Broadcasting Service intend to broadcast any material in the Gulf region.

Asked by

Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan (Labour)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

27 November 1990

Reference

181 c376W;181 c377W

House

House of Commons

	Costs (£ million)
2000-01	17.86
2001-02	21.10
2002-03	25.16
2003-04	27.17
2004-05	28.48
2005-06	31.04

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