View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. News
November 7, 2017

Government threatens court action on town hall ‘Pravdas’ in two London boroughs

By Freddy Mayhew

Two London borough councils have been ordered to stop publishing their own fortnightly free newspapers after ignoring repeated government requests to desist.

Hackney Council, which produces Hackney Today, and Waltham Forest Council, which produces the Watham Forest News, have been issued with “directions” from Communities Secretary Sajid Javid.

Failure to comply within 14 days could see both local authorities facing court action.

Hackney is served by the Hackney Gazette and Hackney Citizen while Waltham Forest is covered by the Waltham Forest Guardian and Waltham Forest Echo.

Councils must not publish their own newspapers more than four times a year under the Publicity Code, a set of regulations approved by parliament in 2011 to try and stop taxpayer money being spent on them.

The code was later strengthened by the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said: “An independent free press is vital for local democracy and it’s important that we support them in holding local leaders to account.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

“Councils shouldn’t undermine local democracy by publishing their own newspapers more often than quarterly.

“While the majority of councils abide by the Publicity Code, Hackney and Waltham Forest have ignored repeated requests to stop publishing their council newspapers so frequently.

“In the interests of local democracy, I will therefore use my powers to require them to do so.”

Both councils have previously received written notices from the Communities Secretary indicating his intentions, a government spokesperson said.

They added that representations from each local authority had been “carefully considered” before the direction orders were made.

A Waltham Forest Council spokesperson said: “Waltham Forest News reaches all 97,000 households in our borough and is a valuable, cost-effective, way of communicating with  our community.

“It also fulfils our obligation to publish statutory notices – as opposed to the Government’s insistence we pay other newspapers to do that.

“We will now carefully consider the Government’s directive before deciding the best way forward for the residents and businesses we serve.”

Hackney today has a print run of 108,000 copies and is delivered free to every home and business in the borough, according to Hackney Council.

A spokesperson said: “We have received the notice from Department of Communities and Local Government and we are carefully considering our options.”

Former Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, who brought the Publicity Code before parliament, has previously described council-published newsletters as “Town Hall Pravdas”, a reference to Russian political newspapers associated with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network