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At its meeting on Tuesday 8 May, Ofcom's Radio Licensing Committee ('RLC') awarded six community radio licences.

All community radio services must satisfy certain 'characteristics of service' which are specified in Article 3 of the Community Radio Order 2004. The RLC was satisfied that each of the applicants awarded a licence met these 'characteristics of service'. In addition, each application was considered having regard to the criteria set out in section 105 of the Broadcasting Act 1990 ('BA 1990') (as modified by the Community Radio Order 2004). A summary of these criteria is set out below. The key considerations in relation to these criteria, which formed the basis of the RLC's decisions to award licences to particular applicants, are also set out below. Where applicable, the relevant subsection of section 105 (1) of the BA 1990 is noted in brackets. (Please see specific community radio licence award criteria, set out below, for full details of each subsection.)

Applicants awarded a licence

Ofcom's Radio Licensing Committee made licence awards to the following applicants (in alphabetical order):

1. Alive Radio (Dumfries)
2. Bute FM (Isle of Bute)
3. Jubilee FM (North and South Queensferry)
4. Ness FM (Inverness)
5. Star FM (Bangor, Northern Ireland)
6. Vibe FM (Enniskillen)

Each of these services will be licensed for a period of five years from the date of their launch.

Alive Radio (Dumfries)
Alive Radio will serve the community needs within Dumfries and the surrounding area with a service with a Christian ethos. The applicant has built on its experience of broadcasting via temporary restricted service licences (RSLs) in the area (1a) to put forward programming proposals that have been developed in response to listener demand (1b) and that will broaden the choice of services available locally with a service of Christian music, a strong sense of localness and community outreach (1c). The applicant has already secured some in-kind support (premises and training), and has set out achievable targets for operational funding support from grants, churches and local supporters (1a).

Bute FM (Isle of Bute)
This application is for a community service for the population of Bute. It is from a long-established group which has been successful in organising local events, in particular the annual music festival for the island (1a). The group has relevant experience in sourcing grants and fund-raising (1a), as well as organising volunteers (1g). The proposed station would clearly broaden choice in the area (1c), by providing a Bute-focussed service of information and community news, phone-ins and access for local community groups. The application demonstrates opportunities for participation (1g) as well as clear plans to ensure accountability through a community focus group and an annual audience satisfaction survey(1f) .

Jubilee FM (North and South Queensferry)
Jubilee FM seeks to serve the twin communities of North and South Queensferry. This applicant has gained local broadcasting experience through running restricted service licences (RSLs) in the area over a period of 5 years (1a & 1b). The board includes members with broadcasting, journalism and technical experience (1a). It also demonstrates fundraising experience and strong community links (1a & 1e). The group has clear local support (1d). It has put forward good accountability proposals including a ‘Friends of Jubilee FM’ group, and regular research to be conducted by students at the local High School(1f). The station will be based in the school, and deliver radio training to students (1e).

Ness FM (Inverness)
The station will provide a service which has a specific focus on the geographical community of Inverness and its immediate surrounds. The group owns a useful asset base, and its members contribute some relevant broadcasting experience in support of its proposals (1a). In terms of catering for the tastes and interests of members of its target community, Ness FM sets out relevant music and speech-based programming proposals which will have a narrower geographical focus than the existing local commercial station (1b). Programming output will broaden available choice locally through the inclusion of various non-pop musical genres and a range of locally focused speech-based content, including some Scots Gaelic language output (1c). The group also sets out appropriate proposals concerning its provision of access to, and training in the use of, station facilities (1g).

Star FM (Bangor, Northern Ireland)
This college-based station will broadcast programming containing a wide range of musical genres together with a range of relevant speech-based output to the town of Bangor and surrounding area. The station will have a particular focus on the provision of education and training. The group has gained temporary RSL broadcasting experience over many years, and its proposals have attracted a considerable amount of secured funding (1a). RSL experience is also reflected in the station's programming proposals, and the degree to which they would be relevant to the tastes and interests of members of the target community (1b). It has also helped the station to develop demand and support for its proposed service (1d). Star FM's social gain proposals were strong in relation to the provision of education and training (1e), and the group also set out appropriate accountability proposals (1f).

Vibe FM (Enniskillen)
This applicant will broadcast to the town of Enniskillen and its immediate surrounds, providing a service with a particular focus on the interests and needs of younger inhabitants. A key activity of Vibe FM will be the provision of a range of media training opportunities. The group's proposals were underpinned by a range of relevant broadcasting and other expertise at board and senior management levels, as well as limited involvement in temporary RSL broadcasting activities locally (1a). Relevant research underpins this group's plans to ensure that its output will cater for the tastes and interests of members of its target community (1b) and will broaden the range of programming available locally (1c). This research, together with the various preliminary community partnerships it is developing, particularly with education and training providers, also underpin this group's proposals in relation to demonstrating demand and support for its proposed service (1d).

The RLC was satisfied that, with the exception of Alive FM in Dumfries, and Vibe FM in Enniskillen, each group awarded a licence should be allowed to seek up to 50% of its annual income from the sale of advertising or programme/station sponsorship if it so wishes, in accordance with section 105(6) BA 1990, and that none of the new services would prejudice unduly the economic viability of any other local service (section 105(3) BA 1990).

Each of Alive FM (Dumfries) and Vibe FM (Enniskillen) will have a condition in its licence prohibiting income from the sale of advertising or programme or station sponsorship. This is because the coverage of each service falls within the coverage area of a local commercial radio service which has more than 50,000, but fewer than 150,000, adults living in its measured coverage area (South West Sound and Q101.2 West FM, respectively). Under the legislation, community radio services in such areas are prevented from seeking advertising and programme or station sponsorship revenue (section 105(4)(b)) if the coverage of the two stations overlaps by 50% or more in terms of adult (15+) population.

Statutory requirements relating to community radio licensing

The following pages set out the statutory requirements relating to community radio licensing, and details of the licensing process. Further information about these, and detailed information relating to community radio, can be found at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/rbl/commun_radio/

In carrying out all of its functions, Ofcom is required to have regard to the general duties set out in section 3 of the Communications Act 2003. In addition, under section 85(2)(b) BA 1990, it is the duty of Ofcom to do all that it can to secure the provision within the UK of a range and diversity of local radio services.

The characteristics of a community radio service

In respect of the licensing of community radio services in particular, all community radio licensees must satisfy 'characteristics of service' requirements which are specified in Article 3 of the Community Radio Order. The characteristics of community radio services are:

• That they are local services provided primarily for the good of members of the public, or of particular communities, and in order to deliver social gain, rather than primarily for commercial reasons or for the financial or other material gain of the individuals involved in providing the service;
• That the service is intended primarily to serve one or more communities (whether or not it also serves other members of the public);
• That the person providing the service does not do so in order to make a financial profit by so doing, and uses any profit that is produced in the provision of the service wholly and exclusively for securing or improving the future provision of the service, or for the delivery of social gain to members of the public or the community that the service is intended to serve;
• That members of the community it is intended to serve are given opportunities to participate in the operation and management of the service;
• That, in respect of the provision of that service, the person providing the service makes himself accountable to the community that the service is intended to serve.

Article 2 of the Community Radio Order includes four mandatory “social gain” objectives. ”Social gain” means the achievement, in respect of individuals or groups of individuals in the community that the service is intended to serve, or in respect of other members of the public, of the following objectives:

• the provision of sound broadcasting services to individuals who are otherwise underserved by such services,
• the facilitation of discussion and the expression of opinion,
• the provision (whether by means of programmes included in the service or otherwise) of education or training to individuals not employed by the person providing the service, and
• the better understanding of the particular community and the strengthening of links within it.

Article 2 also includes a number of other objectives of a social nature which may be considered to represent "social gain".

Specific community radio licence award criteria

There are seven specific selection criteria set out in section 105(1) BA 1990 that Ofcom must have regard to when considering whether to make a community radio licence award. In summary these are:

• The ability of each applicant to maintain its proposed service over the licence period (section 105(1)(a));
• The applicant’s ability to cater for the tastes and interests of the target community (section 105(1)(b));
• The extent to which each applicant would broaden the range of local radio services available in the area, and have a content distinct from those services (section 105(1)(c));
• The extent to which there is evidence of local demand or support for a proposed service (section 105(1)(d));
• The extent to which the service would deliver social gain benefits to the public or relevant community (section 105(1)(e));
• Provisions for making the operator of service accountable to the relevant community (section 105(1)(f));
• Provisions for allowing access by members of the public or the relevant community to the station facilities, and the provision of training in the use of those facilities (section 105(1)(g)).

Considering whether, or to whom (and on what conditions), to grant a community radio licence, Ofcom must also have regard to the need to ensure that any service provided under that licence does not prejudice unduly the economic viability of any other local service. Sections 105(4) to (6) BA 1990 require Ofcom:

• not to grant a community radio licence which would overlap with a commercial radio service serving no more than 50,000 persons of 15 years or older;
• to prohibit paid advertising and sponsorship of programmes in respect of any community radio service where that service overlaps with any other local radio service serving between 50,000 and 150,000 persons of 15 years or older; and
• in all other cases, to prohibit any community radio service from receiving an appropriate proportion (at least 50%) of relevant income from paid advertising and sponsorship of programmes.

For the avoidance of doubt, programme sponsorship includes station or channel sponsorship.

Ofcom is also prohibited, by subsection 2 of section 105, from granting a licence to any applicant who proposes to receive from any one person (or company) more than 50% of its annual funding.

Process for assessment of applications

On 25 October 2006 Ofcom invited applications for licences to provide community radio services in locations in Scotland and Northern Ireland. These licences were offered for the provision of services on either the FM (VHF) or AM (medium wave) wavebands. The invitation did not specify the locations of services, but left it for applicants to decide where they wanted to be located.

Ofcom received 24 applications, the non-confidential sections of which were made available for public scrutiny on our website. The first six licence awards were made by the RLC on 8 May, and the remainder of the applications received from applicants wishing to serve localities in Scotland and Northern Ireland will be considered by the RLC in the coming months.

The membership of the RLC for the licence awards detailed above was as follows:

Philip Graf, Ofcom Deputy Chairman (Chair)
Joyce Taylor, Content Board Member for Scotland
Pam Giddy, Content Board Member
Peter Davies, Director, Radio & Convergent Media
Peter Bury, Director of Strategic Resources
Martin Campbell, Chief Adviser, Radio
Neil Stock, Head of Radio

A summary and assessment of each application was presented to the RLC at its meeting on Tuesday 8 May 2007. These papers summarised the proposals put forward by the applicants as they relate to the statutory criteria, and highlighted any issues of relevance under those criteria.

May 2007

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