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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the impact on communities of local (a) radio stations and (b) newspapers.

Local radio stations are a vital part of the communities they serve, providing trusted news, entertainment and companionship to listeners in different communities in all parts of the UK. In recognition of this, we have committed to bring forward a package of changes to update the rules on commercial radio licensing, including strengthening local news and information requirements. We intend to bring forward legislation in this area when Parliamentary time allows.

The community radio sector also provides an important service, with around 300 Ofcom-licensed stations having been launched since 2005. The Government continues to make funding available to support the growth of the sector, by way of the Community Radio Fund (CRF). The Fund distributes £400,000 on an annual basis to help fund the core costs of running licensed community radio stations and enable the sector to move towards self-sustainability. Furthermore, in the last two financial years, we have supported the CRF to go beyond this core funding, with significant uplifts targeted on tackling loneliness and to reflect the sector’s important contribution to the Government’s ambitions on levelling up.

Local newspapers also play an invaluable role in the fabric of our society - in supporting communities and local democracy, holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information. They remain uniquely placed to undertake the investigative journalism and scrutiny of public institutions, including local councils and our courts, that is vital to helping ensure a healthy democracy at a local level. And Government-commissioned research into the importance of newspapers to local communities found that changes in news provision and consumption over time had a direct impact on participation levels in local elections in England.

The Government has taken a number of steps to support this vital sector, including through the extension of business rates relief for local newspapers in England for an additional five years; the investment of £2 million in the Future News Fund; the zero-rating of VAT on e-newspapers; the 2021 publication of an Online Media Literacy Strategy; and our work through the Mid-Term Review of the BBC Charter, exploring how the BBC seeks to act as a complement, rather than a substitute for, local commercial news outlets.

The Government was also pleased to see the BBC conduct a thorough review of the Local Democracy Reporting Service in 2020, and we would support any efforts by the BBC to grow the scheme. Most importantly, we are introducing a new, pro-competition regime for digital markets. The regime, which aims to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms, will help rebalance the relationship between publishers and the online platforms on which they increasingly rely. This will make an important contribution to the sustainability of the press at both local and national level. We continue to consider all possible options in the interest of promoting and sustaining the sector.