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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with Ofcom on improving DAB radio signal reach in north west Scotland.

The government is highly supportive of the value of radio in local communities, and wants to support areas that are struggling to gain access to local services on digital.

Commercial radio and the BBC are responsible for the operation of their respective radio networks, including the DAB radio networks. This includes delivering coverage to areas and the provision of radio services to listeners as more listening migrates to digital radio and to online services.

DAB household coverage was assessed by the Digital Radio and Audio Review report published in October 2021. The Review concluded that the financial challenges involved meant that further DAB coverage by the BBC and commercial radio over the next 5 years was likely to be modest. While there are no current plans by the BBC to further expand the coverage of its national DAB network or by commercial radio operators to add more sites to the local DAB network, the government will continue to work with the BBC and commercial radio on developing future options.

As well as supporting the improvements to national and local DAB coverage, DCMS has backed the development of small-scale DAB with Ofcom and the radio industry. Small-scale DAB is a new way of transmitting digital radio that uses advances in software and low-cost computer technology to provide a flexible and inexpensive approach to the terrestrial broadcast of digital radio services to a relatively small geographic area. This initiative will provide local commercial and community radio stations with a viable opportunity to broadcast on digital, and reach under-served areas.