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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the support provided by the BBC for local radio in the Scottish Highlands.

The BBC is editorially and operationally independent, and any decisions over its radio services in Scotland are for the BBC to make. However, the Government has been clear with the Chair of the BBC Board and the Director General that the BBC must make sure it continues to provide distinctive and genuinely local radio services, with content that reflects and represents people and communities from all corners of the UK. These services are a key part of the BBC’s public service remit and an example of how the BBC can use its licence fee funding to provide content that is directly relevant to audiences, particularly in areas that may be underserved by the market.

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. Ofcom has noted that, if it has concerns about the BBC’s provision for audiences in Scotland, it would look at whether it is necessary to introduce new requirements into the BBC’s Operating Licence. The BBC also publishes information on how it is delivering for Scottish audiences in its Annual Report and Accounts.