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One community radio licence award: January 2006

At its meeting on the 5 January, Ofcom's Radio Licensing Committee ('RLC') awarded one community radio licence to Forest FM in Verwood.

The key considerations in relation to the statutory selection criteria, which formed the basis of the RLC's decision to award a licence to this applicant, are set out below. Where applicable, the relevant subsection of section 105 of the Broadcasting Act 1990 is noted in brackets.

Forest FM

The Forest FM application is for a service to a community of around 20,000 people in the east Dorset town of Verwood and its surrounds. The group has an experienced and stable management which has organised numerous temporary radio (RSL) broadcasts in the area (1a). It provided much evidence of enthusiastic support for its past work and this licence application (1d), and the group is clearly an active and valued part of the local community. The programming proposals and social gain objectives are well considered, likely to be achievable and based on experience and the perceived needs of the target community (1b and 1e). Training and access proposals are realistic, and the group’s experience and past involvement in these areas demonstrate a clear commitment to deliver on its proposals (1e and 1g). Forest FM has put forward a comprehensive application which outlines a service that would be a useful addition for the residents of the area.

Forest FM will be licensed on FM for a five-year period.

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 the group awarded a licence met these 'characteristics of service'. In addition, the 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.

Finally, the RLC was satisfied that the group awarded a licence should be allowed to seek up to 50% of its annual income from the sale of advertising or programme sponsorship if it so wishes, in accordance with section 105(6) BA 1990, and that the new service would not prejudice unduly the economic viability of any other local service (section 105(3) BA 1990).

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:

www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/rl/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.

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 commercial 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.

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 1 September 2004 Ofcom invited applications for licences to provide community radio services in most parts of the United Kingdom. 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 194 applications, the non-confidential sections of which were made available for public scrutiny on the Ofcom website. Ofcom expects to complete this round of the community radio awards process early in 2006.

The Radio Licensing Committee (RLC)

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

Ian Hargreaves, Ofcom Board member (Chair)
Kip Meek, Chief Policy Partner
Pam Giddy, Content Board Member
Matthew MacIver, Content Board Member for Scotland
Peter Bury, Director of Strategic Resources
Peter Davies, Director, Radio & Multimedia
Neil Stock, Head of Radio Planning & Licensing
Martin Campbell, Head of Radio Content

A summary and assessment of the application was presented to the RLC at its meeting on 5 January 2006. These papers summarised the proposals put forward by the applicant as they relate to the statutory criteria, and highlighted any issues of relevance under those criteria.

January 2006