Community Radio Fund end of year report: 2008/09

Published 28|10|09

1.1 The Community Radio Fund ('the Fund') had two rounds of applications for grants in 2008/09. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) made available £455,000 for this year's Fund. Ofcom administers the Fund, and decisions on grant applications are made by a panel which reports to Ofcom's Board. Grants from the Fund can only be made to community radio licensees to support core costs incurred in the provision of community radio services.

1.2 Applications for the first round opened on 10 April 2008 and the closing date was 7 May 2008. The Community Radio Fund Panel ('the Panel') met on 18 June 2008 to consider the applications.

1.3 The second round opened on 5 November 2008 and closed on 2 December 2008; the Panel met on 28 January 2009 to consider the applications.

Summary of payments

1.4 Ofcom made grant awards to 33 community radio licensees, totalling £482,494 (details of individual awards are listed in Annex 1). The majority of these (25) had not previously been awarded a grant from the Fund.

1.5 In the first round, payments totalled £266,600 and grant awards were made to 18 stations.

1.6 In the second round, payments totalled £215,894 and grant awards were made to 15 stations.

1.7 109 applications were made for a total of £2.44m over both rounds (£1.16m in the first round and £1.28m in the second round some applicants applied in both rounds and a number of applications were on behalf of a number of licensees).

1.8 Grant awards to licensees over the course of the year ranged from £9,024 up to £29,000, with an average payment of £14,621.

Grant monitoring

1.9 The Panel has implemented a monitoring procedure to ensure that grant awards are spent as agreed. An agreement ('the grant agreement') is put in place between Ofcom and each licensee awarded a grant, and this sets out the terms of the award. Successful applicants are obliged to complete a report ('the grant report') on how they have spent their grant awards (see also Grant feedback below). We are awaiting grant reports from two stations - File FM and Voice of Africa. Aside from these outstanding reports, we are satisfied that grant awards have been spent in accordance with the grant agreements.

Additional comments

Panel priorities:

1.10 The Panel publishes a statement following each round setting out the awards made and reiterating its ongoing priorities.

1.11 During 2008/09, the Panel continued to prioritise applicants that had not previously been awarded a grant and those making joint bids or especially innovative proposals that aim to promote sustainability within the sector. Of the 33 licensees awarded a grant, 25 were new recipients, and two grants were to support posts that will benefit a number of community radio stations. Two thirds (22) were specifically for fundraising or similar roles, whilst the remaining third (11) were for station manager or similar posts. The summary, statement of awards and additional comments by the Panel are available .

Size and future of the Fund:

1.12 The Panel welcomes the growth in the community radio sector; at the end of the financial year 2008/09 there were 134 stations broadcasting, with a further 50+ preparing to launch. However, the Fund has not increased in line with the increase in licensed services and therefore there is correspondingly less funding available per station.

1.13 The Panel's submission to the Government's Digital Britain project suggested that the minimum required for the Fund to adequately support the sector would be around £1.75m. The Panel also recommended that when the Fund is reviewed (every three years) it should be increased in proportion with the number of licensed services. At its present level no continuing support can be offered to stations and many stations may only ever receive one grant from the Fund.

1.14 The Panel's submission to Digital Britain is available at www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/CommunityRadioFundPanel_DBIRResponse.pdf.

Comparison with previous years' expenditure

1.15 The average grant in 2008/09 (£14,621) was broadly similar to 2007/08 (£13,676). In previous years there were significantly fewer stations that were on air and therefore eligible for grants, allowing the Panel to make larger grants. In 2006/07 the average grant was £20,749 and in 2005/06 it was £23,874.

Panel members

1.16 The Panel is formed of three members appointed by Ofcom. The Chairman of the Panel is Kevin Carey, the Head of consultancy ATcare, Chair of RNIB and a former member of the Ofcom Content Board. The two other members are Richard Hilton, a representative of the Community Media Association, the industry body for community media, and Thomas Prag, a member and former Chair of the Ofcom Advisory Committee for Scotland.

Grant feedback

1.17 Ofcom has received feedback from licensees which were successful grant applicants in 2007/08. Licensees that received grants to support fundraising posts reported that they were typically able to generate around three times the value of the grant received in new income such as further grants or advertising. Whilst this was impressive, it is somewhat less than the previous year where stations reported a five-fold increase in the amount brought in compared to the size of the grant. However, stations believe the wider economic climate has had an impact on their finances. For example, Radio St Austell Bay said of its £16,000 grant for a manager/ fundraiser:

"It has improved our advertising and sponsorship base although it has become increasingly difficult to attract new advertisers in the recession."

1.18 As in previous years, in many cases grant recipients were only able to pay one member of staff (and this was as a result of their grant from the Fund). Grants in these cases often went towards supporting a station manager - a critical post especially in a station's first year. Seaside Radio said that it thought it was unlikely to have launched without the support of a grant of £15,000 towards a station manager.

1.19 Station managers can carry out a very wide range of tasks: Aston FM said that the support it had had towards a station manager had helped it to tackle unlicensed broadcasters in Birmingham. Aston FM encouraged many young presenters who would normally have joined these illegal outfits to broadcast legally and receive training from the station manager.

1.20 In many cases station managers have fundraising duties, with for example Swindon 105.5's station manager raising £20,000 towards station costs in addition to her other responsibilities.

1.21 Other selected extracts from stations' feedback are set out in Annex 1 below.