Community Radio Fund: award of grants for 2006/07 Round 1

Published 19|07|06

Ofcom's Community Radio Fund Panel met on Thursday 29 June to consider applications for the first round of grant awards for 2006/07. In summary, at the time of the meeting:

• £450,000 was available for the financial year 2006/07.
• 45 applications were received.
• Funding applications totalled £1,760,340.
• 15 applicants were awarded grants which totalled £229,063.
• 18 applicants were not awarded a grant.
• Decisions were deferred on the remaining 12 applications.

Initially there was £450,000 in this year’s Fund, from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). In addition, the Panel had hoped that further funding not distributed in previous years would be added to the Fund for this year. However, DCMS was not able to confirm at that time whether any of that funding would be made available during this financial year.

First round of applications for funding in 2006/07

The Panel reviewed each application and awarded funding based on the information provided, and with reference to the Community Radio Fund guidance notes. The Panel’s decisions were for:

• a partial award, or
• deferment of a decision until later in the year, or
• not to award any funding.

Due to the shortage of funding, and the large amount of grants sought, no applicant was awarded the full amount of funding for which they applied. A table setting out the awards is at the end of this statement.

Some decisions were deferred to the next funding round to be considered later in the year. This is because the applicants were not due to commence broadcasting until early in 2007 (or late in 2006), and grants cannot be paid until applicants have commenced broadcasting. In addition, it was hoped that DCMS might make more funding available for the second round. These deferred applications will be considered alongside any new applications made in the second round.

Second round of applications for funding in 2006/07

The Panel is now pleased to announce that since its June meeting, DCMS has confirmed that £380,000 will be added to the Fund during this financial year. This means that the total Fund for the year will be £830,000.

The average station grant in 2005/06 was £23,874; the average grant in this round was £15,270. In view of the fact that the Panel was necessarily constricted in the first round of 2006/07, all those who received a grant in this first round, or were deferred or rejected, may reapply in the second round and will be considered together with new applicants.

A total of £600,937 remains in the Fund. A second round of applications will be invited in October 2006, with a closing date in November, and decisions in January 2007 (dates to be confirmed).

Summary of grants awarded in the first round for 2006/07

July 2006