Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps her Department has taken to support the long-term financial sustainability of local newspapers and local journalism.

The Government is concerned about the long-term financial sustainability of local newspapers and local journalism and recognises the vital role they play in scrutinising local institutions and reflecting communities’ views and perspectives. We are committed to ensuring a healthy and plural local media for the benefit of communities and citizens across the UK and published Amplify: The Local Media Action Plan earlier this year.

The actions we are taking will support local media organisations across the country to innovate and adapt their business models for the online world, while incentivising and encouraging the production of high quality, trustworthy news on which communities depend. As part of the Action Plan, we launched a Local News Fund worth £6m in 2026/27 and up to a further £6m in 2027/28, to help ensure the long term provision of local news. Local media faces a complex range of challenges and funding represents just one aspect of our approach. It will help the industry adapt in the short-medium term, before longer term measures set out in the Plan begin to take effect in helping enable a free, plural and thriving online local media ecosystem. Bids for 2026/2027 have now closed and we will publish a list of successful grantees in due course.

As part of the Action Plan, we have also

• Launched an Inspiring the Future journalism careers campaign in the North West to inspire young people to pursue careers in local media. The campaign will conclude shortly and, subject to funding and evaluation, we hope to roll it out nationwide.

• Uplifted the Community Radio Fund, now worth £1m over each of the next 3 years. The Fund closed for bids for funding in this financial year on 14 October.

• Published our Media Green Paper, which sought views on a range of matters including options to require social media to make news content from commercial local (and national) news publishers as well as public service media, prominent and easily discoverable.

We are also planning to launch a public consultation on statutory notices by the end of this year, we will be responding in due course to our BBC Charter Green Paper including in relation to the role of the BBC in the local news market, and we will shortly publish a refreshed National Action Plan for the Safety of Journalists.