Peers to debate removal of requirement to publish statutory notices

An amendment to the Local Audit and Accountability Bill removing the statutory requirement for councils to pay for public notices in local newspapers is to be debated in the House of Lords today.

The amendment has been tabled by Local Government Association peer Lord Tope.

The statutory duty, which was introduced in 1972, is estimated to cost £26m a year. However, the LGA argued that only a minority of residents saw the adverts and councils now had more effective ways of communicating, such as council publications, websites, social media and emails.

The Association pointed out that councils spend £18m a year with local newspapers on other advertising and printing/distribution contracts. Two in five councils also said they were charged higher rates for public notices than for general advertising.

Under Lord Tope’s amendments 19B and 19E*, which can be found here, any requirement for a local authority (in whatever capacity) to publish a notice, an advertisement or any other matter in a newspaper would cease to have effect.  

“Instead, the local authority shall publish the notice, advertisement or other matter in question in such a manner as the local authority thinks is likely to bring it to the attention of persons who live in its area.”

Sir Merrick Cockell, chairman of the Local Government Association, said: “This is money which could be spent on filling potholes, caring for the elderly, protecting children and keeping libraries open. It’s simply perverse that at a time of unprecedented budget cuts and government calling on councils to make huge savings that it still hasn’t removed the burden of statutory public notices which waste millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money.

“Councils need the freedom to keep their residents informed in the most appropriate and cost-effective way, rather than be dictated to by legislation from a bygone age. People now access information in so many different ways and councils want to be able to make the most of more cost-effective and targeted channels to increase local engagement.”

Sir Merrick said the LGA was “sympathetic” to the difficult financial position many local newspapers faced and did not want them to go out of business.

“However, the current plight of local newspapers is down to the changing way people access news and information, a move to advertising online and national parent companies systematically stripping them of staff and assets, so speeding up their decline,” he claimed.

“It is not the duty of local taxpayers’ to prop up local newspapers because their owners chose to spend their multi-million pound profits elsewhere, primarily investing in online media and increasing shareholder return.”