Source · Select Committees · Welsh Affairs Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Deferred
Paragraph: 103
Amend Draft Media Bill to retain Ofcom's duty for diverse analogue radio services
Recommendation
The Government’s proposal to remove the duty on Ofcom to provide for a diversity of national and local analogue services on AM/FM also appears premature, especially given the difficulties in some areas of accessing DAB services. We recommend that the Government amend the Draft Media Bill to ensure that this duty is retained.
Government Response Summary
The government agreed that community radio stations are valuable for public messaging and highlighted past successful targeted campaigns, but did not address the recommendation to amend the Draft Media Bill to retain Ofcom's duty regarding analogue radio services.
Paragraph Reference:
103
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The Government agrees that community radio stations are extremely valuable in enabling important public messaging to reach the widest possible audience. We have already carried out targeted campaigns in collaboration with community radio, for example agreeing a partnership during the Covid-19 pandemic with a number of stations targeting ethnic minorities, enabling vital messaging to be heard by people who may not have received it in other ways. Campaigns such as this have demonstrated the significant impact that government advertising on community radio can have.