Notes 3rd Meeting 23 Sep 04

Chairman’s Introduction

1. The Chairman welcomed Members to the third meeting of the Radio Licensing Committee. All members were present, with the exception of Kip Meek (Co-Chair), Martin Campbell and Kevin Carey who had sent their apologies. Gwen Morgan (Legal Advisor) and Glenis Rylance (Assistant Secretary to the Corporation) were present throughout. The following colleagues attended for part of the meeting: Graham Howell (Secretary to the Corporation) and Soo Williams (Senior Associate, Radio Licensing).

Minutes of the previous Meeting

2. The minutes of the previous meeting held on Tuesday 22 June 2004 were agreed as an accurate record

Matters Arising

3. There were no matters arising which were not covered elsewhere on the Agenda.

Introduction to Legal Issues relating to Radio Licensing.

4. The Radio Licensing Committee received a briefing on legal issues relating to Radio Licensing.

Radio Review

5. The Radio Licensing Committee was briefed on the work in progress on the Radio Review.

Ofcom’s first request for a major change of character to a service: Easy 1035

6. The Radio Licensing Committee discussed Ofcom’s first request for a major change of character to a service. It was noted that the change was subject to consultation.

Community Radio – Community Media Fund – Initial Proposals

7. The Radio Licensing Committee discussed proposals for dealing with the allocation of the funding of £500,000 that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport had set aside for grants to community radio licence holders.

Future MW Licensing

8. The Radio Licensing Committee discussed the future plans relating to new radio services on the medium wave (MW) band of broadcasting spectrum.

FM Commercial Radio – New Licence Areas

9. The Radio Licensing Committee discussed the frequency planning issues regarding new licence areas.

Content Board/Advisory Committee involvement in licence awards.

10. The Radio Licensing Committee discussed the involvement of the Content Board/Advisory Committee in radio licensing decisions.

Edinburgh/Blackburn Licences

11. The Radio Licensing Committee noted that the closing date for applications was 5.00 pm , 23 September 2005 .

Scoring System for Commercial Radio Licence Applications

12. Following discussion, the Radio Licensing Committee noted and agreed that details of how applications would be assessed under each of the statutory criteria would be published. It was also agreed that statements would be published on the website after each licence award which would set out the key determining factors leading to the award of the licence.

Any other business

13. There was no other business

Date of next meeting

14. To be held on Thursday 21 October 2004 in London .

March 2005