Member

207: Clause 98, page 134, line 23, at end insert— “(A1) In section 7 of the Acquisition of Land Act 1981, after the definition of “local authority” insert—““local news publisher” has the meaning prescribed to it in Schedule 2ZA.”(A2) After Schedule 2 of the Acquisition of Land Act 1981, insert—“Schedule 2ZALocal news publishersDefinition of local news publisher 1 The term “local news publisher” means—(a) a business that—(i) has as its principal purpose the publication of original, local news content, where such material—(A) concerns issues or events that are relevant in engaging the British public in public debate and in informing democratic decision-making,(B) is reported and published in the United Kingdom,(C) is published, online or in print, no less than once every 31 days, and(D) is subject to editorial control,(ii) is legally resident in the United Kingdom,(iii) possesses at least one director who is legally resident in the United Kingdom,(iv) employs on a salaried, freelance or voluntary basis at least one journalist,(v) is not funded or operated by a government, political party or legislative institution,(vi) is subject to a code of ethical standards—(A) which is recognised in this schedule, and(B) which is published or administered by an independent regulator,(vii) has in place publicly available policies and procedures for handling complaints and resolving editorial inaccuracies and mistakes transparently, and that these policies and procedures are reasonably accessible to the public,(viii) maintains editorial independence from political parties, organisations that engage in lobbying or advocacy, and advertisers, and(ix) can demonstrate strong connections to the locality in which it operates.2 It is not relevant to the definition whether publication of such material as described in paragraph 1(a)(i) is done so with a view to making profit.3 Material is “subject to editorial control” under paragraph 1(a)(i)(D) if it meets the like definition set out in section 41(2) of the Crime and Courts Act 2013.4 For the purposes of paragraph 1(a)(v), “government” means— (a) the Government of the United Kingdom, or the government of the devolved nations, or local, municipal and regional governments within the United Kingdom, or any departments, agencies, corporations or subsidiary bodies thereof,(b) the government of a foreign nation, whether recognised by the Government of the United Kingdom or otherwise, or any departments, agencies, corporations or subsidiary bodies thereof, or any devolved administrations, local, municipal or regional governments therein, or(c) any other body or international movement holding itself out as the legitimate government of a foreign nation, and/or any departments, agencies, corporations or subsidiary bodies thereof.5 For the purposes of paragraph 1(a)(v), “legislative institution” means—(a) the Parliament of the United Kingdom, or a constituent house or committee thereof, or any officer thereof,(b) the devolved legislatures of the devolved nations, or a constituent house or committee thereof,(c) the legislative assembly of a local, regional or municipal authority, such as the London Assembly, or a constituent house or committee thereof, or any officer thereof, or(d) the legislative assembly, local, regional, municipal or national, in or of a foreign nation as described in paragraphs 4(b) or (c).6 Further to paragraph 1(a)(vi)(B), the following organisations are considered valid independent regulators for the purpose of recognition as a local news publisher—(a) IMPRESS, and(b) the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).7 The Secretary of State may, by statutory instrument, amend paragraph 6 to add or remove organisations.8 A statutory instrument containing regulations under paragraph 7 not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament9 Any statutory instrument issued to effect the Secretary of State’s authority under paragraph 7 must—(a) be laid before Parliament for 60 days before enactment, and(b) in the event that an organisation is to be delisted, be published and transmitted to the organisation at issue in such a way as to entitle them to make representations to the contrary.10 A local news publisher is advantaged in demonstrating strong connections to the locality in which it operates under paragraph 1(a)(ix) where it—(a) is owned and operated by or within its community;(b) can demonstrate a high level of local readership;(c) employs a large number of locally resident journalists;(d) can demonstrate a positive relationship with its readership.11 Where an authority is required under this Act to publish a notice with a local news publisher, as in section 11(1)(a), it is required to give preference to local news publishers that—(a) can demonstrate high local readership comparative to other local news publishers in its locality, or(b) can demonstrate low financial burden to access for customers in its locality.””