Community Radio Order 2025

Baroness Twycross Excerpts

Monday 3rd February 2025 Grand Committee

Moved by

[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.

--- Later in debate ---

[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.

Motion agreed.