I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Community Radio Order 2025.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I am pleased to speak to this order, which was laid before the House in draft on 10 December 2024. For most of us, radio still plays an important part in our day-to-day lives; almost 90% of UK adults tune into the radio each week, where they find trusted news, entertainment and music. At the heart of radio’s popularity is the relationship between the station and the listener, and the role that stations can play within communities.
Radio consistently remains among the most trusted forms of media, with Ofcom reporting that radio is rated highly in terms of accuracy, trustworthiness and impartiality. Community radio has established itself as an integral part of this wider radio landscape, from Reprezent FM in Brixton to Penistone FM, not far from my Barnsley South constituency. These stations play a vital role in providing truly local services for the areas they broadcast to, while also catering for the diverse needs and interests of specific groups.
I have seen at first hand the value that these stations can offer to communities. In November, I visited the community radio station Cambridge 105, as part of Journalism Matters Week. That station produces a range of important content, from local news to women’s sports programmes, and it is run almost entirely by volunteers. Similarly, in December, I was interviewed by a young volunteer journalist, Grace, on Spark Sunderland community radio station. This highlighted how important the training opportunities that are offered by community stations really are. For many people at the beginning of their media careers, they work as a springboard to the next stage.
Like Cambridge 105 and Spark Sunderland, community radio stations up and down the country exist at the centre of wider local media ecosystems. There are now more than 300 analogue community radio services in existence—the first of which launched in 2005 under a Labour Government—as well as around 80 new DAB-only services. The work and dedication of volunteers is what makes community radio so distinct and special. Working with limited resources and often juggling multiple other commitments, these volunteers are dedicated to providing an important local service for the communities they serve.
It is those core principles that distinguish community radio from commercial radio. The core model for community radio—that community radio stations are local not-for-profit organisations providing social gain to the communities they serve—remains a sound one. The model has delivered a wider variety of services with a diversity unmatched in other media.
However, the UK’s radio landscape and listening habits have evolved considerably over the past 20 years, as new means of accessing radio and audio content develop. Nearly 75% of all radio listening is now digital, and FM accounts for less than 20% of commercial radio listening. The Government believe that although FM services need to continue until at least 2030, we cannot ignore the wider implications of those changes. We also need to support community radio stations to develop their services for future long-term sustainability. Although more and more community stations are now coming on to DAB, thanks to the availability of small-scale DAB digital radio networks, we recognise that analogue broadcasting continues to represent the majority of community radio listening. That is likely to continue to be the case over the coming years. It is therefore essential that consideration is given to the future of the licences and the best way to secure their stability for community radio stations in the medium to long term.
The previous Government sought views on whether licences should be extended again, and, if so, for how long. The consultation ran from 8 November 2023 to 31 January 2024. The vast majority of responses were in favour of continuing the policy of renewals. Most respondents were more strongly in favour of a 10-year licence renewal, as that would provide more certainty for community stations into the mid-2030s. The consultation also sought views on whether the restrictions placed on community radio’s capacity to generate revenue through advertising and sponsorship were still needed.
Having considered the representations from commercial and community radio, we believe that it is necessary to retain an increased restriction on a very small number of community stations that broadcast in areas with smaller markets where there is an independent local commercial station. We are conscious, however, that the restriction has not been reviewed since 2015. The draft order would therefore increase the revenue-raising restriction from £15,000 to £30,000.
The draft order includes provisions enabling Ofcom to extend community radio licences by 10-year periods. This will allow them to remove the advertising and sponsorship restrictions for the majority of stations, helping to simplify regulations and hopefully grow the sector. We have also consolidated the Community Radio Order, enabling the repeal of three amendment orders from 2011, 2015 and 2019. That will help to simplify the regulations for stations and Ofcom.
The draft order has been considered by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. Neither Committee raised any concerns about the legislation.
The Government firmly believe in the value of community radio, and believe the changes will help to support the sector’s long-term health and sustainability. The measures will ensure that these ecosystems thrive, remaining trusted sources of local information within communities, while also providing a balanced level of regulatory oversight to maintain stability in the sector.
However, these changes are only the starting point of our ongoing efforts to support and enhance the role of community stations and small independent commercial radio stations within communities. I met the Community Media Association and UK Community Radio Network last month to hear their views on how else the Government might support community radio. We also recently announced plans to develop a local media strategy in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. As part of that, we are looking at the scope to enhance and support the community radio sector, including by considering its request to review the budget for the community radio fund. I am pleased to be able to allocate an extra £50,000 this year to the community radio fund, taking the budget for 2024-25 to £450,000. I want to do more in future years but that is dependent on decisions that the Government will take in the spending review.
Let me conclude by recalling that it was a Labour Government under Tessa Jowell that first licensed community radio. We now want to do what we can to enable the sector to grow and thrive in the years to come. I commend the draft order to the Committee.