Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to provide support to local press organisations affected by proposed reductions in BBC funding for local news and radio.

The Government is committed to supporting local and regional news outlets as vital pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.

To date the Government’s support for the sector has included:

• Introducing legislation for a new, pro-competition regime for digital markets, which among many other things will help to rebalance the relationship between news publishers and dominant online platforms;

• The delivery of a £2 million pilot innovation fund - the Future News Fund;

• The zero rating of VAT on e-newspapers;

• The extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025;

• The publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy.

The BBC is editorially and operationally independent of the Government, and decisions about how it delivers its services are ultimately a matter for the Corporation. However, the Government has been clear that the BBC must make sure it continues to provide distinctive and genuinely local content that reflects and represents people and communities from all corners of the UK. These services are a key part of the BBC’s public service remit and an example of how the BBC can use its licence fee funding to provide content that is directly relevant to audiences, particularly in areas that may be underserved by the market.

The Government expects Ofcom as the BBC’s independent regulator to ensure the BBC is robustly held to account in delivering its public service duties.