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

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to require set amounts of local news from local commercial radio stations.

Local radio continues to bring communities together by reflecting local experiences and delivering local news and information. However, it does so against a backdrop of changing listener behavior, with only around 20% of commercial radio listening now on AM or FM.

In light of this, the Media Act 2024 removed detailed requirements that only applied to stations holding AM and FM commercial radio licences and set out how their local services should be operated. These were replaced with new obligations that prioritise the broadcast of local news and information regularly, including “locally-gathered” news - a key part of radio’s public value.

Further details on the required frequency of local news broadcasts is set out in the guidance which Ofcom published on 25 February this year, titled “Provision of local news and information on analogue commercial radio”. The precise requirements will continue to vary by individual licence and Ofcom will be engaging directly with Licensees on how any changes impact them.