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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support community radio during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government is strongly supportive of the community radio sector and recognises the great value that it offers to communities across the United Kingdom, in terms of providing quality local news, information and entertainment. The Government is also grateful for the interest that community radio stations have shown in broadcasting vitally important public health information during the current Covid-19 outbreak. I understand that the Community Media Association is liaising with the Cabinet Office and the government's external partners in this regard.

The Government also recognises the unique difficulties these stations face, which is why we are releasing emergency funding to help them to continue to provide programming and services for the communities they serve. This will provide a lifeline for community radio stations hit hardest by the coronavirus. Relevant stations were invited to bid for emergency grants to help meet their core costs through an Ofcom sponsored process. The window for applications opened on 4 May 2020 and closed on 11 May 2020. The awarding panel will meet in May 2020 to consider the applications.

As well as this, DCMS continues to have discussions with those in the community radio sector, including the CMA, in order to further understand the wider implications of the coronavirus outbreak on community stations and further support for recovery.