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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with the BBC on the reasons for its decisions to reduce BBC Local Radio services.

The Government recognises the important role that radio plays in terms of the provision of local news and information, and of community engagement, and is disappointed that the BBC is planning to reduce 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 will be meeting with the BBC to raise the questions and concerns that MPs have in regard to the BBC’s planned cuts to local radio.

The Licence Fee Settlement, announced in January 2022, will see the BBC continue to receive around £3.8bn in annual public funding. We believe this is a fair settlement for the BBC and for licence fee payers across the UK, that allows the BBC to continue to deliver its Mission and Public Purposes and keep doing what it does best while not placing immediate additional financial pressure on households. It is up to the BBC to determine how to use its funding to deliver its Mission and Public Purposes, and the government is not considering providing the BBC with additional funding.

Ofcom as the BBC’s regulator will ensure the BBC is robustly held to account in delivering its Mission and Public Purposes. It is for Ofcom to assess whether changes to the BBC’s local radio services constitutes a breach of the BBC’s obligations.

It is the BBC’s responsibility to assess the impact of its proposed changes. The BBC has said that the changes will see BBC local staffing in England is expected to reduce by around 48 posts, with around 131 additional roles across BBC local news services, and around 139 fewer roles in audio teams as greater programme sharing is introduced. I will discuss the potential impacts of the cuts with the BBC’s leadership further in our upcoming meeting.