Legislative Reform (Renewal of Radio Licences) Order 2020

Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate Excerpts

Friday 27th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Con) [V]]

My Lords, let me say at the outset that I of course support the proposals before us, which have come about following much consultation and discussion. I do not intend to comment on the special procedure demanding a legislative reform order in this case; I assume that all the criteria in the 2006 Act, to which my noble friend the Minister referred, have been met.

The proposals throw up a number of issues that, in my view, also require attention if we are to ensure the balanced and fair future development of radio broadcasting in this country. We can all be nostalgic—especially on a Friday morning—but I speak as one who campaigned in the 1960s for the freeing up of the provision of radio services. Radio Caroline, Radio London, Radio 270 and others operated on the edge of law but they were exciting at the time to young people like me. Luckily, I was able to get more involved by advising the Government on the preparation of the White Paper ahead of the legalisation of commercial radio in the Sound Broadcasting Act 1972. In 1973, I was then part of one of the first consortia to apply for a radio licence. I remain part of the community radio movement today.

I say all this because, to this day, I have retained a list of the then Independent Broadcasting Authority’s requirements, which formed the basis of the grant of a licence for what were essentially regional and local services in 1973. The strict hands-on approach of the then IBA chair, the late Lord Aylestone, included rules about the type of advertising, the level of local content, technical requirements and the mix of directors and shareholders. He also ruled:

“The pursuit of commercial objectives must not become the company’s dominant activity to the detriment of programme standards.”


To some extent this mirrored a similar requirement for ITV, where companies had to reflect the regions where they were based and often where their shareholders were based too.

I say all this in the full realisation that the measure before us is technical and administrative in nature and is of the 21st, not the 20th century, and of course things move on. But that is the problem. The emergence first of FM and then DAB and DAB+ frequencies has changed the quality and nature of the transmission of programmes. Advertising revenue and placement has also changed, and some national stations have been authorised and licensed.

The appetite of the public for radio as opposed to TV is still strong, even though social changes are also changing the way we listen to it. Technical changes have provided massive opportunities for new ideas, but they could and should still concern local and regional communities and provide an even greater diversity of programmes. During the Covid crisis, it is the BBC local radio stations that for many people have been the mainstay for receiving local news and guidance, and in my opinion, no BBC director-general should dare to damage or denude those stations.

Ofcom, the present regulatory body for commercial radio, should also be concerned to continue to protect the mix of news, current affairs and community guidance from commercial stations which are being lost in many parts of the country. The consolidation of programmes and networking of production goes on apace. Well-loved, established local stations that obtain licences after having to demonstrate their community connections are, one by one, being absorbed into the mega-conglomerates that now seem to control the sector. In the region where I live in Yorkshire, a large number of local stations have lost their special identity as their out-of-town owners dispose of local staff and content, and simply hijack the licensed frequency to pump out centrally edited music that is obtainable in various other ways, either from national broadcasters or through web streaming services. That simply should not have been allowed.

I understand the pragmatism of these proposals and the new conditions requiring digital radio multiplexes to be made available, but how are the Government and Ofcom going to make sure that if such conditions are met, this will then allow others, apart from those getting extensions to their licences, to really enter this field and restore some of the services to the communities which Ofcom has allowed to be curtailed by the present licensees? Can my noble friend elaborate on this? In hoping for entrants to such broadcasting, can she say how they will be controlled? Even though I want to see this element of the proposals work out, we must not allow or encourage new community radio operators to work to lower standards, but aspiring broadcasters must also not be deterred by excessive and inappropriate fees and charges imposed by Ofcom.

Ofcom claims that it still demands compliance with such things as character of service, but since 2008, it has allowed more flexibility in the format of licensed stations. What used to be strict requirements are too often now fudged or ignored. Surely the process of networking, which I mentioned earlier, is a fundamental breach of the basic principles to follow an agreed format.

I accept what is proposed in the order. It sounds reasonably sensible, but please will my noble friend give me the reassurance that in the now ongoing major review into digital radio and audio, the consultation will be wide enough to cover all interests, especially those who want to retain truly local services that inform and assist? I understand that the report of the review is due in March. I hope that my noble friend is satisfied that it will be ready by then, but in this case, might it not be better to have a little more time so that we can ensure that the future of radio in the UK is properly and fairly constituted?