In my constituency and, I am sure, those of many hon. Members, there is a growing interest in local community media of all sorts. Community radio has been mentioned and I shall discuss community television in some detail, but there are also community websites and a whole range of community newspapers, news sheets and outlets of all types. They reflect the explosion of local community life up and down the country and, perhaps, show that at a time when big media corporations dominate much of the media, people want to see other coverage and news, and want the opportunity to debate local issues in a forum that they feel is part of their lives and community and over which they have some say and influence.

In my constituency, we have a local community radio station, Leith FM, which was recently awarded a full-time community radio licence. It has operated for several years on an occasional basis and has played an important role in the local community. Like the community radio station that the hon. Member for Edinburgh, West (John Barrett) discussed, Leith FM was initially concentrated very much around a festival—the successful Leith festival—and the community radio station developed out of that. There are now plans to involve a wide range of organisations in the community with the station, which is expected to start regular broadcasts shortly. It will provide a range of programmes to cater for all sections of the community, and I am sure that it will proceed from its current, strong foundation to a wider audience within the communities of Leith and north Edinburgh, where its programmes should also be received.

The hon. Gentleman has told us that the experiences at Leith FM might be replicated in his constituency, and my hon. Friend the Member for Eccles described very well how they have been replicated up and down the country. As he said, such experiences should be encouraged and made a reality for communities throughout the country. As my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) made clear in his interventions, community media should reflect the diversity of communities.

Although that welcome flourishing of life in our communities happens spontaneously in many ways, it also needs to be encouraged. It needs the right regulatory framework to allow further development, as it is an important aspect of community life. Some key decisions to be taken in the very near future will either do a lot to encourage the development of community media, or, if the wrong decisions are taken, will undermine the flourishing of community media and set back its development in this country. I therefore take this opportunity to encourage the Minister and the Government to take the right decisions and encourage community media in the way that hon. Members have suggested in this debate.

My hon. Friend the Member for Eccles and the hon. Member for Edinburgh, West spoke mainly about community radio, which I shall say something about later if there is time. I want to talk about community TV, which still has not really taken off in this country. Yes, we have a few community TV outlets of various types in different parts of the country, but compared with many other European countries the UK cannot be said to have anything like a vibrant local TV structure. However, there is no reason why that should not change. Indeed, if it were to change, that would reflect the wishes of communities up and down the country.

There is some evidence about the likely demand for community and local TV if it were more widely available, and that evidence clearly indicates that the public want it. Some 18 years ago, in 1989, an independent survey carried out in Edinburgh found that 93 per cent. of respondents were interested in watching a locally made programme about one of their interests; 92 per cent. of respondents were interested in watching local news on a local television channel; 80 per cent of respondents were interested in watching local current affairs on a local television channel; and respondents were similarly interested in local arts and cultural activities, local festivals and local sport.

Some 15 years later, a similar study carried out in south Wales for Merthyr TV suggested that there was a similar level of interest in local programming that offered news and local documentaries, local music and local sports projects and the like. Research has been carried out not only by groups with an interest in local and community TV; Ofcom has also produced research that came to similar conclusions. I understand that research was conducted for Ofcom last May which asked respondents to rate the importance of a series of statements when assessing the importance for UK society of new digital services. Respondents agreed, most frequently, that local news and information should be available on TV—I emphasise “on TV”—at home; local news and information about their local area should be available from at least one media source; and that programmes about community, local people and events should be available on TV at home.

So, when the public are asked about what they want to see on TV, they consistently tell us that they want local and community TV to be offered as part of a range of TV services. However, the reality is that in most parts of the UK, broadcasting regulation has resulted in local TV being excluded primarily for the benefit of existing TV suppliers, particularly big media corporations in both the private and public sectors. That needs to change, and we have the opportunity to change it with the digital dividend and the ending of spectrum scarcity. We can make that range of community TV services available to the public. It is therefore important that the Government take the right decisions to allow that range of services to be offered to the public and to local communities.

As I am sure hon. Members present will know, because of their interest in the subject, Ofcom has undertaken a study into how local TV could be provided as an outcome of the digital dividend. Decisions will be taken very soon about how the local TV element can be provided as part of that review. There is an ongoing debate about how far that greater facility for local and community TV should be provided through the digital terrestrial spectrum, and how far it should be left to the satellite channels or provided through broadband. I argue strongly that if we are to take full advantage of this opportunity and if we are to meet the public interest in local and community TV, it is essential that the digital terrestrial spectrum provides genuine community TV as one of its elements. By genuine community TV, I mean community TV in which the community has direct involvement and ownership. Certainly, the simple auctioning off of local TV channels in the way that my hon. Friend the Member for Eccles suggested might be the outcome, would not provide the boost for community and local TV that the public want.

The opportunity exists for the Government to make the right decisions, as section 244 of the Communications Act 2003 allows the Secretary of State to make provision for genuine local and community TV. I urge the Minister to take advantage of that section, either today or when the decisions are made, and ensure that a genuine community TV network is established throughout the UK. I want him to ensure that local TV can be a public service broadcaster, as set out in statute. Either that section should be implemented or, if required, amendments should be made to the primary legislation. Making community TV possible requires a level of funding that enables it to offer the kind of services that meet the needs of the community. Ofcom has discussed the fact that funding could be provided through a public service publisher facility.

To sum up, I hope that the digital dividend review will mean that a digital TV channel is available for a local community TV station in each area and that such local TV channels are required to be genuinely community-based. They should carry local news and community information, and provide a forum for local arts, culture and sporting events.

I want to spend a little time discussing two other issues relating to community media, the first of which is the development of community radio. My hon. Friend the Member for Eccles rightly set out how it is sometimes difficult for local community radio stations to get themselves established. The funding that is available is welcome, but there is a need for a longer term perspective. Using examples from Shetland, the hon. Member for Edinburgh, West pointed out that there should be more flexibility, and I would endorse that view. My experience of, and contact with, local community radio demonstrates the need for more flexibility in how set-up support is made available to community radio stations.

The example of the funding from the Welsh Assembly Government, which I have mentioned, should be followed both at UK level and in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Again, my hon. Friend has rightly pointed out that there are a number of opportunities for Government and public sector agencies to use community media outlets in a cost-effective way to provide information about important issues in the community. Such outlets can deliver that information well. Community radio and TV are means not just of establishing local media but of strengthening local communities. In so doing, they help us to tackle some of the divisions in society and to get the best out of a rich fabric of community life that exists in most parts of our country. We are now at a crossroads, because some of the decisions that will be taken could determine the future of community media for many decades, and it is important that we get them right.

I want briefly to comment on a specific issue relating to the subject matter of this debate which has been raised on a number of occasions in the House. There is concern about how the allocation of spectrum could have serious effects on the programme making and special events sector. Some hon. Members present have spoken of the concern elsewhere that the auctioning of the spectrum could have a serious effect on thousands of small businesses and community events that make use of radio microphones. Hon. Members raised the matter in an Adjournment debate in the House a couple of weeks ago.

Mr. Christopher Chope (in the Chair):
Order. This is a debate about community radio and television, and its funding; it is not a debate about the radio spectrum.

Mark Lazarowicz:
Indeed. I would not want to stray from the subject of the debate, but this matter relates to it, because the way the spectrum is allocated for community media has a bearing on the allocation of spectrum for radio microphones. The decisions that we must take in the entire area must take account of the needs of the communities in both the wider and local senses; many people’s operations rely on that particular section of the spectrum too.

I hope that either today or in future the Minister will assure us that the decisions to be taken will support community media, allow them to flourish and allow the already welcome steps that have been taken in many communities in our country to be replicated elsewhere in the UK. That will give a boost, not just to the media, but to our local communities. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to raise these issues in this debate.