As reported by the Newspaper Society: In a Parliamentary written answer Under Secretary of State for the Communities Department Brandon Lewis MP said that more than three quarters of local authorities publish a newsletter with 10 per cent published more frequently than quarterly and a small number published weekly or fortnightly.
The Government recently announced measures in The Local Audit and Accountability Bill designed to “prevent the abuse of taxpayers' money” by strengthening the legal status of Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity
The Code was revised in 2011 to crack down on aggressive council papers, stipulating that local councils should not publish newspapers in direct competition to the local press, these should not appear more frequently than quarterly and should only include material directly related to local services.
However some local authorities, such as Tower Hamlets and Greenwich Borough Council, have defied the guidelines by continuing to publish taxpayer-funded publications which compete unfairly with independent newspapers for readers for readers and advertising revenues.
This week, Andrew Rosindell, MP for Romford, tabled a question asking the Communities “with reference to the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity, published in March 2011, what assessment he has made of the extent to which local authorities are continuing to publish their own newspapers.”
Mr Lewis MP responded: “Information from our recent consultation indicates that over three-quarters of local authorities produce a residents' newsletter, with 10 per cent publishing more frequently than quarterly and a small number of local authorities publishing council newspapers on a weekly or fortnightly basis; this is notwithstanding the guidance in the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity that such publications should not be issued more frequently than quarterly.
“The Local Audit and Accountability Bill contains measures to address the continuing breaches of the code by this minority of local authorities, in order to help protect an independent free press and prevent the abuse of taxpayers' money.”
