Community Radio Order 2025
Baroness Twycross
That the Grand Committee do consider the Community Radio Order 2025.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Twycross) (Lab)
My Lords, over the past 20 years, community radio has secured its position as an integral part of the UK’s radio landscape, providing unique, locally tailored content to the communities it serves. From Resonance FM, which broadcasts new music and arts-based content from just a few miles from here in Southwark, to Spark FM in Sunderland, which broadcasts local news and sports coverage, community radio stations up and down the country are important sources of information within their communities.
Community radio has a strong track record of catering for the diverse needs and interests of specific groups. Fever FM in Leeds, for instance, caters specifically to the Asian community in Leeds and broadcasts in multiple languages. Other community radio stations such as Gaydio serve LGBTQ+ communities in a number of areas across the UK, specifically catering to their interests and experiences. There are now more than 300 analogue community radio services in existence, the first of which launched in 2005 under the then Labour Government. DAB and small-scale DAB have provided further opportunities for more stations to broadcast to localities across the UK.
Community radio has never been just about local programming. It also provides training opportunities for those who are new to the industry, often giving people their first experience of working in the radio sector. These stations are often entirely dependent on the work of volunteers. Working with limited resources and often juggling multiple other commitments, these volunteers are dedicated to providing an important local service for their listeners. These core principles distinguish community radio from commercial radio. The model established in 2005—that community radio stations are local not-for-profit organisations providing social gain to the communities they serve—remains sound and has delivered a wide variety of services with a diversity unmatched in other media. Radio also consistently remains among the most trusted forms of media, with Ofcom reporting that it is rated highly on accuracy, trustworthiness and impartiality. Supporting these valued sources of reliable information has never been more pertinent.
The UK’s radio landscape and listening habits continue to evolve as new means of accessing radio and audio content develop. Nearly 75% of all radio listening is now digital and FM accounts for less than 20% of commercial radio listening. The Government believe that, while FM services need to continue until 2030, we cannot ignore the wider implications of these changes and the need to ensure that we support community radio stations to develop their services for future sustainability. Although more and more community stations are now coming on to DAB thanks to the availability of small-scale DAB networks, we recognise that analogue broadcasting continues to represent the vast majority of community radio listening and is likely to continue to do so over the coming years. It is therefore essential that consideration is given to the future of these licences and the best way to secure their stability in the medium to long term.
Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Con)
My Lords, I am here because this is really interesting. I declare an interest, as I played a small part in the days of offshore pirate ships when they were broadcasting; and I have a legitimate interest, in that I helped to advise the then Government before the White Paper that came ahead of commercial broadcasting in the early 1970s. I also made a failed application for one of the first commercial radio stations in Tyne and Wear, of which my noble friend will be aware; I think my little group came second. But I also have an interest in hospital broadcasting, which is really the element of community radio about which I want to talk for a moment, in connection with what I think is a very welcome order.
I have been involved for more than 50 years with one of the largest hospital broadcasting entities, Radio Tyneside, which covers an area around Newcastle upon Tyne and for all those years has served a number of hospitals and the patients in them. When community radio became available a few years ago, my hospital broadcasting people decided to apply for a community licence to broadcast in FM, and it was granted. Currently, Radio Tyneside can be received—I am selling it now—on the web, by FM and of course in direct communication with patients.
I mention all that as background because what is being proposed here seems very important. It is giving a greater level of certainty and continuity to those that broadcast in that way. In a way, it aims more for different kinds of community broadcasters, but the extension, in obtaining that FM licence, from merely serving hospital patients to serving the wider community and, indeed, pursuing its well-being and health outside of the health service, as it were, seems a really fine aim and one which, again, fits exactly within the requirements of community radio.
As I say, I generally welcome these provisions, but I have two concerns and questions, the first of which is about extensions on the basis of analogue broadcasting being regarded as running until 2030. The extensions of time on licences are very welcome. I note, by the way, that the proportion of those listening to analogue varies enormously depending on the nature of the people who are listening, the nature of the community broadcasts themselves and the areas of the country served. Although DAB is fine, it presents certain problems for community radio stations. There are technical problems, and there are problems associated with being part of a multiplex, which is not easy at all, particularly for an organisation such as a hospital broadcasting service. While not much is said about it here, it is important that as much encouragement as possible can be given to entities of that kind. Indeed, the Minister mentioned a number of minority areas, as it were, that are well served by community radio, as they should be, but I hope that the whole group of hospital broadcasters, wherever they may be, will be encouraged to continue and to extend their services in the way in which Radio Tyneside certainly does.
Secondly, there is the question of advertising revenue. Most of these entities have a charitable status of some kind, and sometimes the charitable status and the aims of a charitable operation do not allow anything other than voluntary contributions, so that taking advertising, for instance, somewhat conflicts with the activities. They have to rely wholly on donations and, as we are all aware, donations put pressure on in terms of guaranteeing continuity for income and budgets.
There is an element of competition for audiences between different community providers when an increase in the advertising revenue is available but not necessarily achievable in certain areas. There is possibly a certain unfairness in that. Therefore, while I welcome the idea that this would help some community stations continue when they otherwise could not, there perhaps has to be some kind of balancing to help community stations, such as the one that I am involved with, which have to raise money in a different way. Otherwise, I very much welcome these proposals, and I hope that we can make some progress in continuing with community radio in the future.
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
My Lords, the Minister may have had a small audience for her speech introducing this order but, much in the way of community radio, as my noble friend Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate set out, the small listenership has still provided a very important and valuable discussion, and I am grateful to my noble friend—my noble and former piratical friend, I should say—for his contribution. I pay tribute to his work and that of Radio Tyneside. With a number of relatives and friends back home in the north-east who have worked in the NHS or who have been in hospital for a period, I know how important that radio station, and the work of hospital radio stations more widely, is to patients and the people who work in our NHS.
I am grateful to the Minister for setting out the background to this order. As she says, it follows on from consultation which the previous Government undertook in the last Parliament. She set out the approach that this Government are taking. There are two areas of concern that I want to touch on, which I hope she will be able to help allay.
The first community radio licence was issued in 2005 following the Community Radio Order 2004, which created the regulatory framework. The purpose of community radio is to provide services for the good of members of the public or of particular communities, rather than for commercial reasons. In doing this, community radio stations should provide some form of social gain. They should be not for profit and non-profit distributing. Any form of profit should be used to secure or improve the future of the service, or to deliver a social gain for the community that it serves. I am a little concerned that this order could risk undermining those principles.
The extension of the licences for community radio stations entrenches current operators at the expense of new entrants and could risk locking out competition. Barriers to entry could harm the community radio sector more broadly, particularly in rapidly changing urban areas or rural communities where there is high demand for specific and relevant programming. Extending the licences also eliminates a key check on the service provided by community radio stations. A relicensing process and review of current licences would ensure that current operators are holding up their end of the bargain. They would have to prove that they are delivering social value and serving their communities. New stations would be able to compete for licences, guaranteeing that only those stations which are truly committed to their social purpose are licensed.
Can the Minister set out why the Government are simply extending the licences, rather than taking the opportunity to review the current providers, ensure that they offer the social value that we all want and potentially allow new entrants where there is a need for them? If the Government are committed to these licence extensions, what action will they take to make sure that community radio stations do indeed deliver social gain in future and provide the community-centred public service broadcasting that we all value?
The other area of concern relates to the phasing out of analogue radio in favour of small-scale DAB radio, as my noble friend Lord Kirkhope touched on. Many community radio stations report that SSDAB is unaffordable, unreliable and inaccessible in key areas. As my noble friend set out, it can be very variable across the country. Many stations struggle with poor reception and limited reach, particularly in areas with high-density housing or rural areas with uneven topography. The high operating costs make SSDAB unviable for smaller, social-purpose broadcasters, such as those we are concerned with today.
This lack of coverage means that community radio cannot effectively serve minority or overlooked audiences. Stations such as Panj Pani Radio in Leicester and Rutland and Stamford Sound, which serves the county of Rutland and parts of Lincolnshire, have reported critical DAB coverage issues—in their very different geographical areas—preventing them from serving their target audiences effectively. We saw during the pandemic how important these small community stations are and what important local lifelines they can be to people through the provision of local information. Without spectrum alternatives, these issues jeopardise their survival. Regional DAB costs upwards of £78,000 per year, pricing out many community stations. Would the Minister consider the limitations of SSDAB for many community radio stations? Would she commit to reviewing the policy of pursuing that over FM and AM?
The Minister was right to highlight the important of community radio, not just to their audiences but as a stepping stone for those who are starting out in the industry, whose voices may become well known and trusted. I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Kirkhope for his good question about charitable organisations operating community radio and how the advertising revenue implications of the order might apply to them. With gratitude to the Minister, I look forward to her response.
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
My Lords, I am grateful to both noble Lords who have contributed this afternoon. I am slightly disappointed that more people are not here to debate. We do not get very many opportunities to debate community radio, and I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate, that this is an interesting area. I commend his role with the hospital radio he mentioned and, at some point, I would love to understand how he managed to make it from being a pirate to being a Member of your Lordships’ House.
It is clear from today’s discussion that both sides of the Committee really want to do what we can to secure support for the community radio sector to ensure that it thrives long into the future. These stations are often at the heart of the communities they broadcast to, and we want to do what we can to make sure that they can continue to deliver local content to their listeners.
I turn to some of the questions raised, and I apologise if I do not get through all the questions that were raised. I will write afterwards if there is anything I need to pick up. I will look through Hansard and double check that I have covered everything.
The noble Lord, Lord Kirkhope, raised the point about hospital radio, and Radio Tyneside moving from being a hospital service to a community radio station. It is a really important point: small-scale DAB is continuing to grow, but there is more to do to give community stations and hospital radio stations more scope to reach communities. As I said, we are keen to support the sector and see it grow. Officials met the Hospital Broadcasting Association in January this year, and when I was briefed, ahead of this debate, we had a discussion about the important role hospital radio plays. It is important for us to note the role of hospital radio stations in a broader context.
The noble Lord, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, asked why we are not seeking to relicense, and why we are looking to extend licences. It is a really difficult balance and the risk is that relicensing stations leads them to fold. Stations are required to report to Ofcom, including on their social gain, in their annual returns. The social gain is a continued requirement and a condition of licensing. The CMA, UKCRN and the sector strongly supported this option, which is one of the reasons we have chosen this approach.
There was an issue around DAB not necessarily being available and it being difficult for stations to access it sometimes. We agree that there may be a role for new FM community radio licences to help support new stations in areas where DAB is not available or is a challenge to install, but it is not straightforward given the very limited spectrum available for new FM services, and the viability of new FM service stations as a result of the significant market shift to digital listening. Therefore, we felt we should leave it to Ofcom to determine the balance between the demand for community radio services wanting to broadcast and the need for a wide range of services across the UK.
This is not the end of the debate, even it was quite a short debate, but this order will ensure that the invaluable work of all these stations is protected and they are able to thrive. We want to foster communities that are home to diverse local media ecosystems. The measures in the Community Radio Order 2025 ensure that community radio can be part of these ecosystems long into the future, contributing to the plurality of choice and to the training of the next generation of radio broadcasters and producers.
I am very grateful to noble Lords for taking part in this debate and for your Lordships’ interest in the continued endeavours of community radio services across the UK, and hospital radio as well. I beg to move.