Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to help ensure that regional media content is made available in the region to which it relates by radio stations in the context of localised opt-outs.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the positive impact that local public service broadcasting – particularly access to local radio and television services – has on local communities. On a local level, our public service broadcasters, local TV providers, news publishers and commercial and community radio stations all play a crucial role in disseminating accurate news and reflecting the unique interests of the audiences that they serve. Our Broadcasting White Paper published in April this year outlined our plans to support this diversity of content through a changing landscape.
The Government is disappointed that the BBC is planning to reduce parts of its local radio output. The BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the government as set out in its Royal Charter, and decisions on service delivery are a matter for the BBC. However, I have been clear with the Chairman of the BBC Board and the Director General that the BBC must make sure it continues to provide distinctive and genuinely local services, with content that reflects and represents people and communities from all corners of the UK.
The Government also expects Ofcom, as regulator of the BBC, to ensure the BBC is robustly held to account in delivering its public service duties. The Secretary of State has already asked Ofcom about how they are considering this issue, and Ofcom is continuing to discuss these proposals with the BBC.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
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.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to protect and support local radio broadcasting.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting the provision of local radio services by commercial and community radio stations across the UK.
Radio continues to demonstrate its huge public value, including recently in response to the coronavirus pandemic, when it expanded its provision of trusted news and information while continuing to provide much-needed entertainment and companionship to its millions of listeners throughout the country. The Government negotiated significant packages of support from Arqiva for commercial stations, as well as providing additional direct funding to ensure that no station was left behind in terms of support with their transmission costs.
In 2019, we introduced legislation allowing Ofcom to license small-scale DAB multiplexes, to provide more community and small commercial stations with the opportunity to broadcast to their local communities. In 2020, we passed more legislation to enable national and local commercial stations to renew their analogue licences for a further period. Following the publication of the Digital Radio and Audio Review in October 2021, we are currently exploring legislative options for securing radio’s position on smart speakers.
We have also committed, following a consultation on future commercial radio regulation in 2017, to strengthen local news and information requirements - the key public service aspects of local commercial radio - and to extend this to digital stations as part of a package of changes to update the rules on commercial radio licensing. We intend to bring forward legislation in this area when Parliamentary time allows.
The Government has continued to make funding available to support the growth of the community radio 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 community radio stations (of which there are approximately 300 across the UK) and enable the sector to move towards self-sustainability. In both of 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.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, is she will make an assessment of the potential impact of local public services broadcasting on local communities.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Public service broadcasting continues to be highly valued by viewers from all backgrounds in the UK. On a local level, our public service broadcasters, local TV providers, news publishers and commercial and community radio stations all play a crucial role in disseminating accurate news, strengthening pride of place, reflecting the unique interests of the audiences that they serve, connecting communities, and helping to address social issues like loneliness and mental health.
The Government recognises the positive impact that local public service broadcasting has on local communities, and in our Broadcasting White Paper published in April this year we outlined our plans to support this diversity of content through a changing landscape.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the BBC’s use of licence fee revenue to produce online news services, which compete with commercial publishers, is compatible with (1) the BBC Charter, and (2) legal constraints on the use of public funds.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Under the Royal Charter, the BBC has an obligation to provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them. The Charter requires the BBC public services to promote its Mission and Public Purposes, including the provision of news in the UK through “online services”; it therefore allows for the use of licence fee revenue for online news services. In doing so, the BBC is required to have particular regard to the effects of its activities on competition in the UK and to seek to avoid adverse impacts on competition which are not necessary for the effective fulfilment of the Mission and the promotion of the Public Purposes.
Her Majesty’s Government carefully considered the BBC's market impact as part of Charter Review in 2015/16, and designated Ofcom as the BBC regulator to ensure the BBC is robustly held to account on its competitive impact.
The Government also committed the independent Cairncross Review into the future of journalism. This was published in 2019, and urged the BBC to think more carefully about how its news provision can act as a complement to, rather than a substitute for, commercial news.
The Charter Mid-Term Review will look at the BBC’s market impact, evaluating how the BBC and Ofcom assess the market impact and public value of the BBC in an evolving marketplace and how that relates to the wider UK media ecology, including with regard to commercial radio and local news sectors and other content makers and distributors.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much has been spent from the public purse on advertisements on commercial radio related to levelling up.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Levelling Up campaign has just ended. We will be publishing its expenditure as part of routine transparency commitments in due course.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has been spent from the public purse on advertisements on commercial radio related to tackling covid-19.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Government developed a strong national campaign to provide information and reassurance to the public. As part of this, we utilised advertising in over 600 national, regional and local titles across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
As with any media planning approach, titles were selected on their ability to engage with audiences at a national, regional and local level. All of these titles have been selected independently by our media planning and buying agency, OmniGOV.
The spend breakdown requested is not held by the Cabinet Office as this information will be held by OmniGov. The Cabinet Office also publishes expenditure, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling monthly basis on GOV.UK as part of routine government transparency arrangements.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has been spent from the public purse on advertisements on commercial radio stations related to the UK's exit from the European Union in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Government developed a strong national campaign to provide information and reassurance to the public. As part of this, we utilised advertising in over 600 national, regional and local titles across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
As with any media planning approach, titles were selected on their ability to engage with audiences at a national, regional and local level. All of these titles have been selected independently by our media planning and buying agency, OmniGOV.
The spend breakdown requested is not held by the Cabinet Office as this information will be held by OmniGov. The Cabinet Office also publishes expenditure, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling monthly basis on GOV.UK as part of routine government transparency arrangements.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effect of the content produced by BBC Sounds on the quality of output of commercial radio.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has received representations from the commercial radio sector about the impact of BBC radio and audio services, including new services being launched on BBC Sounds. It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator, to assess whether particular BBC services have an impact on the provision of commercial radio and audio services.
The Mid-Term Review of the BBC’s Royal Charter offers an opportunity for the government to consider whether current governance and regulatory arrangements for the BBC are working effectively. We will be publishing more details about the Mid-Term Review shortly.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the ability of hackers to hack into UK terrestrial broadcasters' news output.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to making the UK the safest place to live and work online.
It is vital that organisations take action to ensure they are resilient to cyber threats. The National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ, continues to support the BBC, commercial broadcasters, and terrestrial television and radio network operators by providing them with detailed advice and guidance on protective measures they can take to strengthen their cyber security resilience and reduce the risk of falling victim to an attack.