Public notices in local papers are crucial to ensuring residents can express their thoughts, says Shropshire MP
An MP has warned that plans to scrap laws requiring alcohol licensing notices to be published in printed local newspapers will erode the public's right to know what is happening in their communities.
The Government has announced a consultation on licensing reform, including proposals to remove the statutory requirement for alcohol licensing notices to be advertised in print in local newspapers, which the industry says would shroud local communities in secrecy.
Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire has also voiced concerns, saying that public notices in local papers are crucial to ensuring residents have the opportunity to express their thoughts.
Mrs Morgan said: "It is important that people are made aware of any changes taking place in their local area and public notices are a crucial part of that process, as well as a valuable revenue stream for local news organisations."
Mrs Morgan also said that local papers played a vital role in scrutinising the work of the public sector, and that cutting off a vital stream of revenue could harm the democratic process.
"It is important that public bodies and representatives such as myself are held to account and media organisations are an important part of that process - whether that is online, in broadcast or in print," she said.
"Local and regional newspapers such as the Shropshire Star are crucial for democracy, accountability and transparency."
Mrs Morgan said that, in principle, she welcomed the Government's desire to reduce the administrative burden on the hospitality sector and local authorities which, like the news industry, faced significant financial pressure.
"However, it is important that the Government carefully considers the impact that any changes to licensing will have on local media and on the local printed press in particular.
"The funding crisis for local media has been compounded by the Government’s decision in the English Devolution Bill to remove the necessity for local authorities to publish notices in local newspapers," adding that she had expressed her concerns to the Government.
She said her Liberal Democrat colleague Manuela Perteghella MP had tabled an amendment to the Bill which would ensure that at least one of the newspapers in which a public notice is printed is a local paper.
Sir Gavin Williamson, Conservative MP for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge, has also spoken out against the plans, saying the measures would undermine public accountability. He said: "It's weakening local democracy and it's weakening the press. It's a retrograde step; there's a whole string of actions this Government is taking which is weakening our institutions, not just in this field.
"That's really bad government and a retrograde step."
The Government’s licensing taskforce - which made the initial recommendation to scrap alcohol licensing notices in local papers - was set up to review the Licensing Act 2003 which applies to England and Wales. The taskforce was overwhelmingly made up of representatives from the hospitality and night-time industries, with media not represented on the group.
At the same time as the licensing reforms, a provision in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill would remove the legal requirement for notices publicising changes to local authority governance arrangements to be published in local papers.
This would strip communities of the right to know about sweeping changes to local councils - just as the Government embarks upon the most dramatic reform of local government in 50 years.
