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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending Asset of Community Value protections to local newspaper titles and community radio stations.

The Government is aware of the National Union of Journalists’ (NUJ) calls to confer Asset of Community Value status on local newspapers.

We are committed to supporting local journalism and DCMS is developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. We are working across Government and with other stakeholders as the Strategy develops. While there is limited evidence to show that this proposal would have a substantial impact on the sustainability of local media, we have not yet ruled any options out for the Strategy as we continue to engage with stakeholders, including the NUJ.