What action it is taking in respect of any health risks from the installation of terrestrial trunked radio masts near schools.

TETRA systems aresubject to the same provisions for control of public exposures toradiofrequency (RF) radiation as global systemfor mobile telecommunications (GSM) equipment. These provisionsinclude a requirement that operators ensure that public exposures are keptwithin the guideline levels defined by the international commission on non-ionizingradiation protection (ICNIRP). To monitor compliancewith this requirement, the Radiocommunications Agency (RA) is undertaking anaudit of base stations with particular emphasis on those near schools andhospitals. The general finding of the RA audit is that levels of RFradiation exposure are thousands of times below the ICNIRP public exposureguideline level. For example, the highest measured exposure level for the 21Scottish school inspections carried out so far this year (and published on theRA website at www.radio.gov.uk) was lessthan one five-thousandth of the ICNIRP public exposure guideline level. Themeasurement programme in Scotland has not yet been extended to include TETRA emissionsbut the RA propose to make appropriate changes to cover these emissions asTETRA base stations become operational.