Broadcasting (Radio Multiplex Services) Bill

Debate between Tom Pursglove and Kevin Foster

2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 13th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

It is my great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton).

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Torbay (Kevin Foster) on bringing this Bill to the House. He is proving himself to be a tenacious campaigner who always stands up for his constituents. He is an incredibly impressive Commons performer, as we saw at the start of the debate, when he spoke for nearly an hour and took all the interventions that were thrown at him with great elegance. I am not at all surprised that he spent a night in his office queuing to get this Bill on to the Order Paper and before the House. I congratulate him on his efforts on behalf of his constituents.

Members tend to know that they are in a pretty good place with their private Member’s Bill if my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) is not present. We have not had a contribution from him, so there must be very broad support for the Bill, as we are seeing demonstrated in the debate. My hon. Friend the Member for Shipley regularly uses the words “worthy sentiment” when he speaks on a Friday. There is a lot of worthy sentiment in the Bill, because it is all about communities, local services and communication with local people in local areas. The objectives that underpin this Bill most certainly constitute worthy sentiment.

I wish to start by recognising that, in Corby and east Northamptonshire, we are very well serviced by our local media outlets. When it comes to radio, we have BBC Radio Northampton, Corby Radio, and Connect FM, all of which provide a brilliant local service, with their own niches and listeners. We also have good television coverage with BBC Look East and ITV Anglia, which provide a very good local news service. We also have the Northamptonshire Telegraph and the Nene Valley News. All of those outlets come together in their different ways to contribute to local north Northamptonshire life.

As Members from across the House will appreciate, those different outlets have different resources available to them. Some are much better resourced than others. We should not forget that community radio is very dependent on volunteers who put an awful lot of time and effort into providing those services on behalf of the communities in which they are based. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that, currently, around 200 small commercial radio stations and 244 community radio stations do not have the opportunity to broadcast on digital radio. The realities are very striking. The rationale behind this Bill is exceptionally logical, as there is not enough capacity on the current DAB multiplexes, particularly in urban areas. The cost of carriage on networks is too high for some small local stations, which is a particular challenge locally in north Northamptonshire. The area of multiplex coverage provided by county-level DAB multiplexes is too large compared with the smaller FM transmission areas, and the set length of licences of 12 years is not appropriate for all broadcasters.

We must recognise that we need to move with the times. Many small commercial radio providers broadcast online, but they need a viable option to move to terrestrial DAB. By the end of 2016-17 and early 2018, 50% of radio listening will be on a digital platform, which is hardly surprising in a digital age, and 60% of UK homes have at least one DAB radio. I am sure that that figure has increased over the Christmas period, with many people being given a DAB radio as a gift. My hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow) alluded to her household situation and the digital radios that she has received at various Christmases.

My hon. Friend the Member for Torbay and I can sometimes be accused of chuntering from a sedentary position. I can tell the House that that happens when we believe that Members are complaining about problems but are not bringing forward any solutions to address those problems, and that frustrates us on a regular basis. That is where this Bill has a particular strength. The funded trials, which were run by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport between 2014 and 2016, have proved that the technology works, that this is a viable opportunity, and that the scheme could be rolled out. The success of those pilots is clear both in the outcome of those pilots and in the Library briefing notes. Not only have we identified a challenge and a problem, but we have something to help rectify some of those challenges which is ready-made and readily available and can be rolled out if we move forward on that basis.

One criticism that can be made of this House is that, sometimes, the debates are a little abstract. In the back end of my remarks, I will set out the local context and exactly where we sit in my part of the country—in Corby and east Northamptonshire—in relation to this issue. As I have said, we are very well serviced by two local community radio stations, namely Connect FM and Corby Radio. As part of my research for this debate, I have made contact with both of the radio stations to ask what their take is on this Bill, whether there are any areas that can be improved, and what challenges they face. Let me reflect on the comments that I have had back. Connect FM states:

“Connect FM is on DAB Radio currently. We believe that DAB is the way forward and so took the decision to invest in DAB. We currently broadcast on DAB across Northamptonshire, incorporating Corby. DAB gives smaller broadcasters like Connect FM, who previously only covered part of a county, the ability to compete on a county or even region wide basis. This is vital to ensure the long term financial stability that commercial radio broadcasters like us require. It provides the level playing field on Transmission”—

a level playing field is important here—

“previously only enjoyed by a limited number of commercial broadcasters and the BBC.

The costs involved in broadcasting on DAB currently are eye-wateringly high when compared to the financial return currently gained. Connect FM have had to negotiate heavily with Arqiva, the sole DAB supplier, to be able to broadcast on the platform and even then can only afford a low-bitrate mono signal. Stereo is beyond our reach currently.

We have been keeping a close eye on Small Scale DAB and it would be of interest to us even if it were to simply offer a level of competition on the transmission market. Current DAB costs are excessive so anything that can be done to drive those costs down, whilst at the same time offering more listener choice, has to be a good thing.

We support the bill if its aim is to achieve that and to also bring forward a switchover date.”

I hope that the Minister will remark on some of those issues later, and perhaps they will inform the nitty-gritty discussions when the Bill goes into Committee—I would be delighted to serve on the Bill Committee—to ensure that we get this right for all our different providers.

Corby Radio, which first started broadcasting on 5 December 2009, is a full-time, community-focused radio station. It is incredibly strong on local issues and it has a news output, combined with popular music for all tastes. It does regular studio programming, as well as special live broadcasts, for example from key community events such as the Corby carnival, the highland gathering, which is very popular in the town, the opening of the Corby Cube and the arrival of the Olympic torch. Those pivotal moments in Corby’s history have all been captured in our local media output, but I do not think that they would have been without Corby Radio, and I do not think that it would necessarily happen as successfully in future.

We need to remember the enormous contribution that Corby Radio makes. It is uniquely local coverage, by Corby people and for Corby people, with input from Corby people all the way through. Over the summer I took part in the listener takeover. I went in for an hour and basically had a “Desert Island Discs” show in which I ran through my favourite songs. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as I hope did the listeners at home. I hope that it raised a few pounds to contribute to the radio station. I was just one of many people who took part in those initiatives throughout the summer.

[Kevin Foster]

Were any of those favourite songs written by our hon. Friend the Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (David Morris)?

[Tom Pursglove]

Shamefully, I am not aware of any of the songs written by our hon. Friend, and I was very disappointed that he did not name them so that we could all go and listen to them over the weekend. Perhaps we could have another show on Corby Radio: “Dave Morris’s greatest hits.”

Corby Radio currently does not transmit on DAB; it transmits only on FM to the borough of Corby and the surrounding villages. When I head back to the constituency at the end of each week, I know that I am nearly home when the station comes into range on my car radio. Corby Radio is a community station. It has been issued a five-year community radio licence by Ofcom, which must be renewed every five years. It would be very interested in transmitting on DAB, because it feels that current trends are going that way. For example, all cars are now manufactured with DAB radios. It cited the evidence I alluded to earlier, which is that more and more people in the UK are turning to DAB radio. It is estimated that 50% of radio listening will be on a digital platform by the end of 2017-18. It asked me to set out the situation in this debate, because that is an important fact.

Corby Radio also mentioned that Norway has started to phase out FM and that by the end of 2017 the whole country will be digital only. That is a global trend. The Government have said many times that they want us to keep up and be at the front in the global race, and I think that on this issue we should do exactly that. Corby Radio would be very interested to see the Bill progress. It is fully supportive and, as their local MP, I think that it is important that I put that on the record and ensure that we get the Bill through Second Reading. That is why I am pleased to be here for this debate today.

As I come to the end of my remarks, I want to say that the Bill really matters. Corby Radio and Connect FM both provide such an important local service, promoting excellent local community groups, causes and fundraising efforts that other radio providers are simply not in a position to advertise in the same way, and providing topical local news. We currently have inclement weather around the country and, as other hon. Members have mentioned, local stations provide crucial local weather updates. The news output from small local radio stations is, in my experience, completely impartial. It is simply often a case of presenting the facts and letting people know what is going on.

A point that has not yet been mentioned in this debate is that community radio provides a platform for local sports clubs to get across future fixture information and reports about past fixtures, and that is welcome. People are interested in their local clubs and teams, so it is good that there is a platform to let them know how local people are getting on and to encourage more people to go along to the grounds on a Saturday, for example, to support their team.

Local Area Referendum (Disposal of School Playing Fields) Bill

Debate between Tom Pursglove and Kevin Foster

2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 22nd January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Tom Pursglove]

I thank my hon. Friend for that contribution, which raises an important point—one that I intended to reach in a few seconds’ time. He has pre-empted what I was about to say. Clearly, there are concerns about that, which I shall address as part of my remarks.

At the moment, I believe that the provisions on neighbourhood planning in the National Planning Policy Framework are not yet tested and tried sufficiently to know for sure that they are watertight in respect of these issues. As I say, where such an overwhelming strength of local feeling can be demonstrated, local people should ultimately have a right of veto.

In other words, the Bill is designed to prevent a situation in which the 4,000 people in Oundle or electors anywhere in the country can be ignored in the way that they have been in the past. In short, this is about a community right to veto any proposal to sell a playing field where the local community feels strongly that doing so is not in the best interests of the area.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is delivering a most interesting speech. Would this right of veto be absolute if, say, a piece of national infrastructure were planned and the school attached to the playing fields was going to be closed? Would a referendum still apply in those circumstances or apply only if it were intended that the school would continue?

[Tom Pursglove]

I thank my hon. Friend, who always asks very difficult questions. A number of particular regulations are specified in the Bill that would require the Department for Communities and Local Government to do some consultation work. We could get to the crux of that sort of issue in a Bill Committee. Ministers would need to look at the provisions in some detail to get the Bill right. I am not saying that I have all the answers already. I view the Bill as offering a broad outline of something that could be done to provide greater protection for school playing field land. As for the finer regulatory details that would need to play a part in this, it is important to take account of the various case studies up and down the country and ensure that the arrangements are right.

Let me return to the issue of provision elsewhere. The Bill does not seek to stop the selling of playing fields per se. It merely allows those who use these important green spaces to make the case for them to be kept, and to have a real say over the decision. If, of course, it can be demonstrated that the benefits from selling any such land, such as a new school being built with equal or upgraded facilities or alternative provision being provided elsewhere as a direct swap, there is nothing to fear.

I am aware of a local case where this happened. In Kibworth in Leicestershire, David Wilson Homes was very keen to build a new development on a piece of land that included the site of the cricket club. An agreement was reached between the local community, the cricket club and the builders, which meant that the existing cricket club land was built on, but it was replaced elsewhere, delivering not only a better pavilion facility but an extra cricket square. There was a demonstrable benefit to the local community from that taking place, and local people came in behind that and supported it. I would not view that differently for anywhere else in the country where better facilities or direct swaps are being proposed. What we are seeing in Oundle, however, is the taking away of land in an area where there is limited open space for people to get out and get active.