History of Community Radio in the UK
Taken from 'Making it work ' Learning from successful Community Radio stations

Community broadcasting in the UK dates back to early cable-based experiments in the 1970s such as the community television service, Swindon Viewpoint and cable community radio stations in Telford and Milton Keynes. In the late 1970s and early 1980s a new generation of unlicensed land-based 'pirate' broadcasters took to the FM airwaves. Some were essentially music radio but others, such as London-based Our Radio and Cambridge Community Radio, operated with broader social and political objectives. In 1977 a lobbying group called Comcom was formed and later, following a series of standing conferences on community radio the Community Radio Association was established in 1983, as a membership association and advocacy body aiming to secure a legal framework for community radio in the UK.

The first acknowledgement by government of representations for and interest in community radio was given in a parliamentary statement by the Home Secretary in 1981 which 'proposed to give further consideration to this matter'. In 1984 the government announced that there would be a limited experiment to be licensed directly by the Home Office and in 1985 some 271 applications were received for community radio licences for 21 designated locations. The experiment, however, was abandoned following intense lobbying by commercial broadcasters and backbench Conservative MPs. Instead the government offered a consultation on the future of local radio and put in place arrangements for short term Special Event Licences.

The Broadcasting Act 1990 provided a statutory basis for licensing radio broadcasts for short term events and for low power broadcasts to and for designated institutions, including hospitals and educational establishments, but the Conservative government rejected opposition party proposals to make specific provision for community radio. The new legislation also introduced greater powers to prevent pirate broadcasting.

The short term radio licences, known as Restricted Service Licences (RSLs) began to be used extensively for festivals, events and trial broadcasting with community radio groups making up the majority of licence holders. By the end of the 1990s over 2000 short term RSLs had been awarded usually for up to 28 days duration. The Broadcasting Act 1996 extended the RSL arrangements to include Television Restricted Service Licences (TVRSLs) but the government and the radio industry regulator, the Radio Authority, continued to resist proposals to provide a statutory basis for long term community broadcasting. The Radio Authority in a 1996 briefing to MPs said 'progress of so-called 'community radio' is best achieved through the existing arrangements without establishing a separate structure'.

In the 1997 general election eighteen years of Conservative rule came to an end with the landslide election of the Labour Party. Labour had consistently supported the case for community broadcasting while in opposition and in 1998, the Radio Authority announced that it had also been 'persuaded of the case for community radio.' In a speech to the December 1998 conference of the Community Media Association, the Radio Authority's Chief Executive said: 'We would welcome legislative provision for the award of licences on a non-profit distributing basis, according to strict criteria and effectively ring-fenced from subsequent transfer into the commercial sector.'

In 2001, government gave the green light for 16 pilot community radio services to go ahead in advance of new legislation. The 'access radio' experiment was evaluated in 2003 and deemed a strong success with community-based broadcasting being described, by the independent evaluator, Anthony Everitt, as promising to be 'the most important new cultural development in the United Kingdom for many years.'

The Communications Act 2003, in Section 262 provided powers to extend existing broadcasting legislation to community radio. The Community Radio Order 2004 makes explicit provision for community radio and provides the following definition:

'(1) It is a characteristic of community radio services that they are local services provided primarily �

(a) for the good of members of the public, or of particular communities, and
(b) in order to deliver social gain,
rather than primarily for commercial reasons or for the financial or other material gain of the individuals involved in providing the service.

(2) It is a characteristic of every community radio service that it is intended primarily to serve one or more communities (whether or not it also serves other members of the public).

(3) It is a characteristic of every community radio service that the person providing the service-

(a) does not do so in order to make a financial profit by so doing, and
(b) uses any profit that is produced in the provision of the service wholly and exclusively for securing or improving the future provision of the service, or for the delivery of social gain to members of the public or the community that the service is intended to serve.

(4) It is a characteristic of every community radio service that members of the community it is intended to serve are given opportunities to participate in the operation and management of the service.

(5) It is a characteristic of every community radio service that, in respect of the provision of that service, the person providing the service makes himself accountable to the community that the service is intended to serve.'

Fourteen of the 16 pilot community radio services continued to broadcast under a series of licence extensions and have applied for five year licences under the new statute and regulatory framework. In 2004, the new communications regulator, Ofcom, opened a general call for applications to operate community radio services from which 194 applications were received. The first community radio to be licensed under the new statute was Forest of Dean Community Radio on 11 March 2005.

The Communications Act 2003 also provides for the possibility of local and community television in the future and for a Community Radio Fund which may in future be extended to local and community television. In the government�s impact assessment prepared for parliamentary debate on the legislation it was stated that Government support for the Community Radio Fund 'is unlikely to be more than £3 to 4 million per annum'. Initial investment has been committed at £500,000 per annum.

Under the terms of the Community Radio Order 2004, the new services will generally be allowed to receive up to 50 per cent of revenue from advertising and programme sponsorship and not more than 50 per cent of income from any one source of funds.

There are greater limitations in areas that overlap with small commercial radio services. No community radio licences are to be issued in areas overlapping with a commercial radio service for less than 50,000 population. In areas overlapping with a commercial radio service for less than 150,000 population, community radio services are prohibited from earning revenue from advertising or programme sponsorship.

These arrangements and other aspects of the Community Radio Order 2004 are to be reviewed in 2007 in the light of experience with the first licensees.

In other areas the prospects for community radio development in the UK are good. Long term sustainability and the quality of service will depend, in part, on levels investment in the Community Radio Fund but many community radio groups have already gained extensive operating experience in short term broadcasting and have established a mixed economic base of grant funding and self generated revenue.