FM Radio Applications

Debate between Iain Stewart and Amanda Milling

Tuesday 8th September 2015 Westminster Hall

[Amanda Milling (Cannock Chase) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this house has considered FM radio applications.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Main. I thank the Minister and fellow Members for their time this afternoon. I am grateful for this opportunity to raise the ongoing challenges faced by Cannock Radio and other community radio stations in a similar position when it comes to applying for an FM licence.

Before that, however, I want to touch on the importance of community and community spirit. When I worked in market research, I conducted a project looking at the concept of localism and community throughout the UK. People would comment that community spirit was not what it used to be. Well, I certainly do not think that is true among the towns and villages of Cannock Chase. I have spoken before about the strong sense of community spirit there—largely, in my view, down to the strong mining heritage in the area. Although we no longer have the mines, we have many community groups, volunteers and local charities that we can thank for helping us to create, support and maintain that all-important community spirit.

One essential way to create and maintain community spirit is to ensure that the public are engaged, and local media, whether the press, social media or local and community radio, play an important role in that. There has been a real vacuum for local and community radio in and around Cannock Chase. Although we are served by BBC WM 95.6FM, that station covers a huge and diverse area, including Birmingham, the black country and the surrounding west midland counties. Before Cannock Radio was launched last November, there was no truly local radio.

Cannock Radio is an independent station with a credible and sustainable business model and plan. It has been incredibly successful since its launch not even a year ago. The community has really embraced the station. Only the other week, I walked into Cannock market and could hear Cannock Radio playing in the background. The station also broadcasts regularly from local events. Last week, I saw its staff broadcasting from a local charity football match that was held to raise money for Help for Heroes.

Cannock Radio epitomises the real value that community radio can offer for social gain, providing updates on local news and school closures, and local non-league football coverage—and that is just a flavour. The station already has close links with the police. It can broadcast police reports and incidents immediately, thereby playing its part in protecting the local community and residents. For example, two men were posing as charity workers. One would keep the person talking on the doorstep while the other would break in through the back door. Announcements were made on the station so that residents were not only made aware of the potential risk, but could play their part in helping to track down the criminals.

Cannock Radio also has a credible and sustainable plan for the future. It is not reliant on public sector grants, but is self-funding through local businesses advertising on the station. It also has exciting plans to help to create local jobs and offer a training scheme for budding young people interested in a future in radio. I would be delighted if the Minister joined me on a visit to Cannock Radio’s new studio in Bridgtown, into which it moved only a couple of weeks ago, to see for himself what a fantastic community radio station it is and to hear first hand the station’s plans.

Cannock Radio’s future and ability to fulfil its potential is reliant on an FM licence, in terms of both fulfilling the station’s community role and growing advertising revenues, which will help it to create more local jobs and develop training opportunities. The FM licence is also important for the many residents of Cannock Chase who cannot access the station because it is currently online only.

Cannock Radio has been looking to apply for an FM licence since its launch last year, but the Cannock area more generally has been fighting for such a licence since 2009. At that time, Chase FM was seeking a licence, but, due to unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances, its owner was unable to apply for one when Ofcom invited applications from the midlands last year. It was only when it was clear that Chase FM was no longer operating that Cannock Radio was created and launched. Having missed the midlands round of applications, and with no future rounds for the area announced, Cannock Radio faces a great deal of uncertainty as to whether and when a licence application will come to fruition.

To some extent, I can understand the broad principles and rationale for a region-by-region approach, but currently no further regional rounds have even been announced, and there is no clear indication of when or whether regions will be revisited, and in what order. That proves that the existing system is not creating certainty or fairness for applicants.

[Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) (Con)]

I might be able to offer my hon. Friend some hope. In the previous Parliament, MK FM, the community radio station in my constituency, faced challenges similar to those faced by Cannock Radio. However, working with the Minister and Ofcom, we were able to revisit the timetable, and MK FM made a successful bid for a licence. Yesterday, the station started to broadcast from its new studio on its new, permanent licence, so there is light at the end of the tunnel.

[Amanda Milling]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention and the hope that Cannock Radio might also be successful in getting a licence in future. I am sure that its staff will be very pleased to hear about the success of his local community radio station.

Nevertheless, the future of applicants in regions where time frames have not been published hangs in the balance. From past form, we know that it can take as long as four years before they get an opportunity to apply. Such an undefined waiting period is enough to force even the best local radio stations to close. Will the Minister liaise with officials at Ofcom to try to provide more certainty and transparency in future rounds of FM licensing, both in those regions that are yet to be considered and in those to be revisited?

I have reviewed section 104 of the Broadcasting Act 1990, which deals with applications for community radio licences, and I believe that there is scope for Ofcom to consider invitations outside the region-by-region process. Subsections 1 and 2 say that where an authority proposes to grant a licence for a local service, it shall publish a notice in such manner as it considers appropriate, specifying the region or area where the service is to be provided, providing clear time frames and stating the fee. According to my interpretation, Ofcom is not bound by a region-by-region process and has a lot of jurisdiction over the invitations to apply that it issues. Section 104 also suggests that the decision to specify areas or localities in the UK from which applications are invited lies solely with Ofcom. In short, there is nothing in the legislation that prevents Ofcom from varying its region-by-region specification, if it so wished.

I suggest a couple of solutions. Ofcom could invite applications from stations in special circumstances, such as Cannock Radio, alongside its existing region-by-region assessments. For Cannock Radio, I ask that an invitation to apply on a one-off basis, even on a five-year trial, be considered. The community wants and needs it. Cannock Radio has a business plan that totally satisfies all Ofcom’s prerequisites, and there is no local competition. The Community Media Association, the industry body, has advised that it has no knowledge of any other applications of merit in the Cannock Chase area, so such an invitation would not result in a flood of similar requests adding to Ofcom’s workload, which I appreciate could be a concern given its finite resources. A frequency—104—is also available.

My hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes South (Iain Stewart) raised the matter of community radio in the previous Parliament, and one of his suggestions was an on-demand system that would address some of the resource issues of greater and more flexible licensing. It would see stations paying a premium fee for their application to be considered outside the prescribed region-by-region rounds, which I am sure many would be prepared to pay. The fee would cover the additional costs of any extra staff and resources required. What does the Minister think of that approach?

In conclusion, community radio stations such as Cannock Radio have a distinct and invaluable role in our communities. Regional radio stations deal with cities, towns and villages, but community radio stations deal with roads and houses. I hope the Minister will consider my points about the FM licensing process and how it could be improved to give greater certainty to community radio stations such as Cannock Radio, for which an FM licence is key. I look forward to hearing his views.