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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the local newspaper industry; and if he will make a statement.

As the Secretary of State has stated previously, local papers are the bread and butter of journalism - they part of the communities they serve, and people rely on and respect them. In our manifesto, we committed to consulting on the introduction of a business rates relief for local newspapers in England, which was launched in summer 2015. In the March 2016 Budget, the government announced that local newspapers will be eligible for a business rates discount for two years from April 2017. We are confident that this will help local newspapers maintain a presence on the local high street.

Our recently published BBC White Paper, 'A BBC for the future: a broadcaster of distinction', sets our our expectation for the BBC to enjoy a positive partnership with the local news sector. The News Media Association (NMA) and the BBC have been working together to develop proposals and good progress has been made in agreeing the principles of a service that will see the BBC providing some funding for local journalists to provide reporting for news providers. These plans will be implemented in consultation with the industry.