Thank you, Mr Twigg, for your chairmanship of this debate. I am grateful to the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell). Passionate views have been expressed in the Chamber, and also across the House in recent months, on these decisions by the BBC. Since its first local radio service was launched in the '60s, the BBC has played a vital role in promoting locally produced radio reporting. Important radio appearances by my hon. Friend the Member for Clacton (Giles Watling) about what will be on at the local theatre, along with the local traffic report and so on, are what make an authentic and true public service. Today, the BBC's 39 local radio services in England reach 5.8 million listeners a week. They have a huge reach which is incredibly valued by people across our nations. My hon. Friend the Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra) made the point that BBC local radio can be an important incubator for local talent, training those skilled broadcast professionals who go on to feed our creative industries and important broadcasting sector. The BBC's announcement towards the end of last year of changes to radio services in Northern Ireland has caused concern in Government; it was raised by the hon. Member for Foyle (Colum Eastwood) with the Prime Minister in November last year, and Mayor Duffy wrote to the BBC chairman, Richard Sharp, stressing the importance of BBC Radio Foyle in the community. Concerns were raised about whether the 36 roles cut will be disproportionately removed in areas such as Derry; these issues are deeply sensitive in the context of Northern Ireland. The Government have various mechanisms in our relationship with the BBC; we are looking at issues of impartiality and at how the BBC's moving into an online presence affects the commercial radio market. Last week I met the chairman of Ofcom to discuss this issue, noting that the BBC's public service essence comes down to how it responds to parts of the market not served by the commercial sector; local content is vital in supporting the licence fee. The Government want the BBC to succeed as an important British broadcaster and to thrive, but also ensure its fundamental public service broadcasting operations are not undermined as part of the shift towards digital first. It is necessary to ensure that the BBC is uniquely able to access audiences who may not be moving online in quite the same way as the majority of audiences; it is a key role for the BBC. The charter requires the BBC to provide distinct content reflecting and representing people and communities across the UK, including all socioeconomic groups and age groups. Local content relevant to audiences is incredibly important in the BBC's public service remit. As of July, 180 media organisations were supported by the BBC as part of local news partnerships; this collaboration is crucial. I met the BBC's leadership at the end of last year and expressed everybody's concerns; following PMQs, the Prime Minister met the director-general and chairman of the BBC. The DCMS Committee has been looking carefully at the BBC and its planned changes to local radio; we want to ensure that everything supports community radio stations. We are providing financial support for technical trials of small DAB broadcasting technology and to license small-scale DAB networks, so that not only do we support the BBC in what it does in local radio but we look at how we can have a thriving grassroots commercial and voluntary radio sector at the same time.