The Petition of listeners to BBC Radio Merseyside,
Declares that the Petitioners oppose the 20% cut to BBC Radio Merseyside’s budget proposed by the BBC management; that the Petitioners note that BBC Radio Merseyside is the most listened to of the BBC’s 39 local radio stations outside of London with over 300,000 listeners who tune in for an average of 16.2 hours per week to popular programmes such as the Roger Phillips Show and the Billy Butler Show; further note that there are more staff at Radio 4 who work on the You and Yours programme than the whole of the current team of BBC Radio Merseyside; and that the Petitioners believe any efficiency savings should be fairly distributed, protecting local services and jobs where possible, in order to guarantee quality of programming which remains locally relevant and to preserve a service that is depended on by millions of listeners up and down the country, rather than maintaining the budgets of bigger channels and national radio stations.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to encourage the BBC to reconsider its cuts to BBC local radio.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Luciana Berger, Official Report, 18 October 2011; Vol. 533, c. 869.]
[P000965]
Observations from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport:
The Government understand the important role BBC Radio Merseyside plays in the lives of its listeners. Its contribution to culture and life across the region to which it broadcasts is widely recognised.
The BBC is looking closely at what it does and how it should prioritise its resources in future. It is right that the BBC (like other parts of the public sector) should be expected to make savings. How best to achieve that, whilst securing the interests of viewers and listeners, is a matter for the BBC Trust. The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of Government under the terms of the BBC’s Charter and Agreement, and there is no provision for the Government to intervene in its day-to-day operations.
Delivering Quality First has been and will continue to be subject to extensive scrutiny by the BBC and the BBC Trust. The Government notes that the BBC’s proposals are subject to a full public consultation by the BBC Trust. This gives the public an opportunity to respond and put their views to the BBC. Details are available at http://consultations.external.bbc.co.uk/bbc/dqf/. The consultation closes on 21 December 2011.