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 ensure that local news production is at the centre of (a) the BBC and (b) other modern media stations.

The Government recognises that local and regional news and current affairs play a vital role in bringing communities together and providing shared experiences across the UK, and the BBC has an important role to play.

The BBC’s mission and public purposes are set out in the Royal Charter. The Charter requires the BBC to provide impartial news and information to help build people’s understanding of all parts of the United Kingdom and of the wider world. The BBC should offer a range and depth of analysis so that all audiences can engage fully with major local, regional, national, United Kingdom and global issues.

This is alongside broader legislative and regulatory obligations for all public service broadcasters, including the BBC, which are required to provide high quality, impartial news and current affairs programmes. The BBC, ITV and STV are also required to provide regional news. The Government has no plans to relax these requirements.

The BBC was given a fair licence fee settlement that aims to support households at a time when they need that support the most. It sends an important message about keeping costs down while also giving the BBC what it needs to deliver on its remit. With this settlement, the BBC will continue to receive around £3.8 billion in annual public funding, allowing it to deliver its mission and public purposes and to continue doing what it does best.

As the BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the Government, and decisions over its spending and how it meets its obligations and delivers its services are a matter for the BBC.