Welsh Government: Suspend 5G rollout in Wales and hold a public consultation.

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The Issue

We, the undersigned, call upon the Welsh Assembly which has committed to the goals of the Well-being of Future Generations Act (2015) and to the remit of the Environment (Wales) Act (2016), to use their powers to immediately suspend the roll out of 5G technology in Wales and conduct a thorough review of all the available scientific research and evidence pertaining to its potential impact on public health, the environment and biodiversity. Additionally, we call upon the Welsh Assembly to hold a transparent and accountable public consultation on the safety and necessity of the installation of 5G technology in Wales. The introduction of this new technology, and its interaction with existing technology, requires full scrutiny. 

Cyngh/Cllr Claudine Young, Aberystwyth Town Council, Welsh Labour. Cyngh/Cllr Dinah Mulholland, Lampeter Town Council, Welsh Labour.

 

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Dinah MulhollandPetition Starter
Media enquiries

The Decision Makers

Vaughan Gething AM
Minister for Health and Social Services
Responded
“Please see attached response from the Welsh Government, posted on behalf of Lee Waters AM, Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport: Whilst appreciating the concerns outlined in the petition, and directed to the Welsh Government, I am afraid telecommunications is not a devolved matter, with responsibility resting with the UK Government. Likewise, there is currently no Welsh Government 5G project in Wales. Trials for 5G applications and use cases are ongoing, for example, through the UK Government’s 5G Testbeds and Trials programme. I would kindly suggest that any specific queries regarding any 5G projects are directed to the UK Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS): Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport 100 Parliament Street London SW1A 2BQ United Kingdom enquiries@culture.gov.uk Whilst the overall industrial specifications and health and safety considerations of 5G technology is not devolved to Wales, the wider public health of the Welsh population is devolved to the Welsh Government. It is not expected that any 5G network will be rolled-out until late 2019, with full commercial 5G coverage across the UK not available until 2022/23. The roll out of 5G does not require public consent, although normal planning restrictions might apply for the erection of required infrastructure. The Welsh Government is advised by Public Health England’s Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards (PHE-CRCE) in relation to the protection of communities from radiation hazards, which includes 5G and related technologies. The Welsh Government retains the services of PHE-CRCE in an advisory capacity because of their level of expertise and breadth of remit, and because they give greater weight to documents that use rigorous review processes and base their advice on the entire range of scientific information available. Officials have requested information from PHE-CRCE in respect of the health effects of 5G, and they have provided the following information: Mobile telecommunications technology has developed through several generations and there are now many 2G, 3G and 4G base stations installed throughout the environment providing services to users of mobile phones and other devices. Over the decades since the networks were first introduced there has been a general trend towards increasing numbers of smaller transmitters that individually provide services to smaller geographical areas and which have reducing radiated powers. Against this background, many measurements have been made and these continue to show that exposures of the general public to radio waves are well within the international health-related guideline levels that are used in the UK. These guidelines are from the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and underpin health protection policies at UK and European levels. In relation to the implementation of 5G user devices and networks, this technology is at an early stage and reflects the latest evolution in mobile communications technology. Current technical standards that draw on the ICNIRP guidelines will apply to the products that are developed and the UK network operators are already committed to complying with the ICNIRP guidelines. With the increase in the volume of information being transferred, more spectrum is being made available and the highest frequencies being discussed for future use by 5G are around ten times higher than those used by current network technologies, up to a few tens of GHz. Their use is not new, and they have been used for point-to-point microwave links and some other types of transmitters that have been present in the environment for many years. ICNIRP guidelines apply up to 300 GHz, well beyond the maximum (few tens of GHz) frequencies under discussion for 5G. Exposure to radio waves is not new and health-related research has been conducted on this topic over several decades. In particular, a large amount of new scientific evidence has emerged over the past few years through dedicated national and international research programmes that have addressed concerns about rapidly proliferating wireless technologies. The main focus of recent research studies has been on exposure to the types of radio signals used by current communications technologies and at the frequencies they use, up to a few GHz. Fewer studies have been carried out at higher frequencies but the biophysical mechanisms that govern the interaction between radio waves and body tissues are well understood at higher frequencies and are the basis of the present ICNIRP restrictions. The main change in using higher frequencies is that there is less penetration of radio waves into body tissues and absorption of the radio energy, and any consequent heating, becomes more confined to the body surface. It is possible that there may be a small increase in overall exposure to radio waves when 5G is added to an existing network or in a…”
Lesley Griffiths AM
Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs
Sophie Howe
Future Generations Commissioner
Ken Skates AM
Minister for Economy and Transport with responsibility for digital connectivity infrastructure
Lee Waters
Welsh Goverment

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Petition created on 30 May 2019