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Written question asked by Matt Vickers (Conservative) on Tuesday, 2 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 4 June 2026. It was answered by Ian Murray (Labour) on Wednesday, 10 June 2026 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.


Local Broadcasting

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference the Government's December 2025 BBC Charter Review Green Paper proposing the expansion of the Local Democracy Reporting Service, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that independent academic researchers are able to access the comprehensive set of content produced by that scheme.

Answer

The content produced by Local Democracy Reporting Service journalists is made freely available to the BBC and partners to the BBC’s Local News Partnerships scheme. The BBC is operationally independent of the government and the process for determining Partnership eligibility is therefore a matter for the BBC itself.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
6295
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Research Local broadcasting
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk