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BECTU seeks more detail on regional news plans

An official report published yesterday (Monday) has provided basic confirmation of the government's plans to secure the future of commercial local news.

the unions are insisting that more detail is needed to ensure that viewers do not lose out. Equally important to BECTU and the NUJ is the desire to avoid disruption for existing staff

Independently funded news consortia are to be piloted in Scotland, Wales and one English region. The consortia are set to supply local news across multiple platforms including the relevant programmes currently provided by ITV and STV.

Quality and employment must be protected

However, the unions are insisting that more detail is needed to ensure that viewers do not lose out. Equally important to BECTU and the NUJ is the desire to avoid disruption for existing staff. 

The unions have been pushing the government to act to secure the future of local news on ITV and the other Channel 3 providers. However, whilst yesterday's news represented progress, the lack of detail means continuing uncertainty for many staff.

In a letter today to culture secretary, Ben Bradshaw, the general secretaries of the two unions, Gerry Morrissey and Jeremy Dear, have sought reassurances that the full impact of the plans will be considered and made transparent.

BECTU general secretary, Gerry Morrissey said:

"The government's announcement this week brings some clarity on this important issue, however existing staff in the proposed pilot areas will need more information before the uncertainty they have lived with for some time now will be lessened.

"The unions had been promised direct involvement in the process if the pilots were given the go-ahead; we hope that the current culture secretary will deliver on that promise to ensure that the pilots can be true tests of the strength of the idea with the minimum of disruption for existing staff." 

NUJ broadcasting organiser, Sue Harris, said:

"We welcome the fact that the government has committed itself to take action to secure the future of quality local news on ITV, STV and beyond. However, we've got real concerns that nobody is able to put any details on those plans. What will happen to existing staff in the affected parts of ITV and STV?

This week's report, which comes ahead of the Queen's Speech tomorrow (Wednesday) announced that a decision on the long-term funding of local news on commercial channels would be left until the pilots were up and running.

The broadcasting unions and industry campaigners have been campaigning since April this year against the top slicing of the BBC licence fee, one solution the government has been promoting as a means of supporting regional commercial news for the longer term.

Questions to Ben Bradshaw

Today's joint union letter to Ben Bradshaw seeks answers to the following questions:

• What will happen to staff on the existing ITV/STV news services and their terms and conditions?

• How will the tenders be assessed to ensure they will maximise the quality of work produced?

• Who will be on the panel to assess the bids and how will the government ensure it represents all interests and stakeholders?

• What are the government's plans for the possibility of failure of the pilots? What would the impact be on staff and how would it ensure the future provision of news on ITV/STV?

• Will media ownership rules be sufficient to protect media plurality and avoid the potential for dominance by a single supplier if it is involved in news provision on all local platforms, including Channel 3, local newspapers and radio stations?

The unions have sought answers to these questions from Ofcom and government representatives over an extended period; both unions believe that a detailed response from policymakers is now overdue.