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Community Radio Licence Award: Forest of Dean

Forest of Dean licence award decision

The first community radio licence was awarded on 7 March 2005 to Forest of Dean Community Radio, to broadcast to all those who live, work or study in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire.

With regard to the ‘characteristics of service’ for community radio (set out below), the Ofcom Radio Licensing Committee (the RLC) was satisfied that Forest of Dean Community Radio fulfilled the requirements set out in the Community Radio Order.

In considering the application with regard to the selection criteria set out in section 105 of the Broadcasting Act 1990 as modified by the Community Radio Order (also set out below), the RLC noted in particular, in relation to section 105(1)(a), that Forest of Dean Community Radio is a well-organised and effective organisation with experience going back some years. The group has identified a range of backers, and has the knowledge, community links and experience to take the project forward successfully.

Forest of Dean Community Radio has demonstrated its ability to cater for the tastes and interests of its target community (section 105(1)(b)) and to provide a service which broadens choice in the area (section 105(1)(c)), and is well supported by the local community (section 105(1)(d)).

In addition, in relation to section 105(1)(e), the RLC considered that Forest of Dean Community Radio satisfactorily demonstrated evidence of a range of appropriate social gain objectives for this rural area. Forest of Dean Community Radio is already well-established within the community it aims to serve, and has procedures in place to ensure that it remains accountable to the community (section 105(1)(f)) and continues to allow access to the station for members of the public (section 105(1)(g)).

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

There were no other applications submitted for this area. The service will be licensed on AM (medium wave) for a five-year period.

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/rl/commun_radio/?a=87101

Statutory requirements relating to community radio licensing

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) of the Broadcasting Act 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.

Specific community radio licence award criteria

There are seven specific selection criteria set out in subsection 1 of section 105 of the Broadcasting Act 1990 as modified by the Community Radio Order 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 (s ection 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)).

In addition, in considering whether, or to whom (and on what conditions), to grant a community radio licence, Ofcom must 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. In particular in this respect, subsections 4 to 6 of section 105 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.

Given the large number of applications received for community radio licences, Ofcom has decided to assess them in order of priority by first considering applications in areas where the 14 pilot community radio (formerly known as ‘Access Radio’) stations are currently broadcasting. This involves over 70 applications, and includes areas such as London, Manchester and Glasgow.

Ofcom is aiming to make decisions in these areas before the end of June, before moving on to look at applications for areas not involved in the pilot scheme. Ofcom expects to complete this round of the community radio awards process by late summer.

The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire is one of the areas where a pilot community radio station is currently broadcasting. There was only one application for a community radio licence in this area.

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

Ian Hargreaves, Ofcom Board member (Chair)
Kip Meek, Senior Partner, Competition & Content (Co-chair)
Peter Bury, Director of Strategic Resources
Martin Campbell, Head of Content & Standards Radio Team
Peter Davies, Head of Market Intelligence
Pam Giddy, Content Board member
Matthew MacIver, Content Board member
Neil Stock, Head of Radio Planning & Licensing.

A summary assessment of the application by Forest of Dean Community Radio was presented to the RLC at its meeting on 7 March 2005. This paper summarised the proposals put forward by the applicant as they relate to the statutory criteria, and highlighted any issues of relevance. No questions of clarification or amplification regarding the proposals in its application were put to Forest of Dean Community Radio.

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