Newspaper Redundancies

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Culture, Media and Sport – in the House of Commons am 2:30 pm ar 2 Mawrth 2009.

Danfonwch hysbysiad imi am ddadleuon fel hyn

Photo of Andy Burnham Andy Burnham The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 2:30, 2 Mawrth 2009

I am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman is making a spending commitment and suggesting that there should be a subsidy. If he is accusing us of not acting quickly enough, I should tell him that we put in train the "Digital Britain" review precisely to take a quick but nevertheless detailed look at the range of issues affecting the media industry across the board and to come back with firm recommendations by the summer. That represents a pretty focused piece of work and I encourage him to engage in the process. It is not necessarily just funding; it may be regulatory change or looking at new ways of providing services, but in this case he cannot accuse us of being behind the curve. I told the House at our last Question Time that I had decided to raise the issue up the Department's agenda, having met the Society of Editors, and I remain absolutely committed to making sure we get solutions that the newspaper industry can work with.