[cma-l] CMA Press Release re the petition

[Jaqui Devereux]

PRESS RELEASE – 18/08/2009

Lord Puttnam backs community broadcasters funding campaign

Lord David Puttnam has pledged his “.. absolute support..” to a campaign 
by community radio broadcasters who are pressing the government for 
access to adequate and reliable funds.

Community radio, acclaimed by industry regulator Ofcom as a 
“broadcasting success story”, is under constant fear of closure, 
according to Professor Anthony Everitt, author of the 2003 report, New 
Voices, whose recommendations formed the basis for government legislation.

The Community Radio Order 2004 is currently under review as are the 
funding arrangements for public service broadcasting content outside the 
BBC. Funding for community radio has not kept pace with growth in the 
number of services. The Community Radio Fund was set up in 2005, with 
£500,000 per annum when there were only 14 community radio licensees. 
Today there are around 150 community radio services on air, while the 
Fund has not grown in size.

Everitt, in a letter to the Department for Culture Media and Sport, says 
the sector is “hobbled by its poverty”, and has called on government to 
implement the recommendations of his report to provide (matched) grant 
aid of £30,000 per year per station towards core operating costs. 
Everitt says “this is a modest expenditure when the benefits community 
radio can confer are taken into account”, and it is needed “to place 
community radio on a sound financial footing”.

Community broadcasters have called on government, in an open letter to 
the Prime Minister, to implement the funding recommendations of the 
Everitt report to ensure the sustainability and development of community 
radio. And a petition to the Prime Minister, calling for increased 
funding for the sector, is also gathering momentum with over 1700 
signatures already confirmed.

Lord David Puttnam assured the community radio sector:  “…the weight of 
public support and technological history are with you…”

Jaqui Devereux of the Community Media Association welcomed Lord 
Puttnam’s support and said: “The social, educational and economic 
benefits the community radio sector delivers in communities across the 
UK are clear and the sector is one of the fastest growing in the 
country.  However, a lack of recognition of and investment in the sector 
both nationally and locally means that many stations are vulnerable to 
closure whilst others find it difficult to launch.”

-ends-

For further information contact:
Jaqui Devereux
Office:  0114 279 5219

Notes:
1. A copy of the letter from Professor Anthony Everitt to DCMS is 
attached below. Anthony Everitt is a former Secretary General of the 
Arts Council and Visiting Professor at Nottingham Trent University. New 
Voices was an independent report commissioned by the Radio Authority.
2. The open letter to the Prime Minister, signed by 82 community leaders 
media scholar and experts is available online at 
http://www.sheffieldlive.org/lettertogordonbrown
3. The petition to the Prime Minister is available at 
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/allthevoices/
4. The Community Radio Order 2004 came into force on 20 July 2004. The 
government is currently conducting a review of the Order, as part of the 
Digital Britain consultation. A public consultation paper on the 
Community Radio Order 2004 was published by the Department for Culture, 
Media and Sport on 16 June 2009, with a closing date of 16 August.
5. The government has published (also on 16 June 2009, as part of the 
Digital Britain consultation) a separate consultation paper on plans to 
ringfence 3.5% of the television licence fee to fund local and regional 
news and other essential public service content priorities. This 
separate consultation on funding closes 22 September 2009.
6. The Communications Act 2003 provides, in Section 359, for a Community 
Radio Fund. In a regulatory impact assessment paper at the time the 
government estimated this would not cost more than £3-4 million per 
annum. It commenced in 2005/06 at a level of £500,000 and has not been 
increased since. The number of community radio licences has grown from 
14 to over 200.

-- 
Jaqui Devereux

Director
Community Media Association

15 Paternoster Row
Sheffield
S1 2BX

+44 114 279 5219


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