Regional Newspapers

Glyn Davies Excerpts

Wednesday 5th December 2012 Westminster Hall

[Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)]

Thank you for calling me to speak, Mr Hood. I should apologise immediately for being late and not hearing the first seven or eight minutes of the debate. I am therefore very grateful to be called. I was thinking about what I was going to say when you called me. You did so rather earlier than I expected. That probably serves me right for being—

[Mr Vaizey]

My hon. Friend will have to be spontaneous.

[Glyn Davies]

What I say is probably always spontaneous.

I wanted to make a contribution because local newspapers are incredibly important in mid-Wales, where I live. The main reason for that is the retraction of the broadcast media; clearly, there has been financial pressure on the BBC in particular. They have withdrawn from the level of coverage in mid-Wales that I think we reasonably deserve. Now, the whole democratic basis, which has been a significant part of this debate, depends on our local newspapers. It depends on the County Times, which is a key weekly paper, the Shropshire Star, the Advertiser and the Cambrian News in the west. Without those newspapers, local issues simply would not be aired at all.

I want to give a couple of examples. The biggest local impact is that of onshore wind farms, whether we agree or disagree with them as individuals. They desecrate the whole area, and without the local newspaper campaign, the issue simply would not have engaged the local community anything like as much as it has. The whole of mid-Wales is part of that massive campaign, and we depend on the local newspapers to help us deliver it.

Last week, there was another issue. The local health trust has suddenly increased the waiting time for elective surgery from 26 weeks—in Wales it is 26 weeks; in England it is 18—to 36 weeks. The local population would not know that if it were not for the local newspaper. Local newspapers are therefore crucial in delivering the information that we need.

A point that I want to make briefly, without developing it, is about the concerns of local newspapers about the impact of our discussions on Lord Justice Leveson’s report. Most of us would agree that it has very little relevance to local newspapers, but there is massive concern about what bureaucracy it might deliver to those organisations. Many local newspapers are close to the brink in their financial liability. We will have to be very careful about any great increase in the bureaucracy that is needed to comply with new rules and regulations that apply to national newspapers. Great damage could be caused in our attempt to do good.

My final point will reinforce one made by my hon. Friend the Member for Burton (Andrew Griffiths), who secured the debate. It is about how we can ensure that local authorities and Government try to channel much of their spend on delivering information, which is right and proper, through local newspapers. Powys county council—I am not being critical of what it is doing—is desperately keen to have everyone know what is happening within the council. That is right and proper, but it seems to me that if it were inventive and channelled that information through the local newspaper, by engaging someone who would almost be a dedicated reporter, would be a cheaper and more effective way of engaging with people. Almost nobody looks at the stuff the council puts out; it is very professional and very good, but it does not actually deliver what people want, and the same may apply to information campaigns by the national Government. We need inventive ways of transferring that spend so that it supports local newspapers.