BBC Local Radio

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I shall refer to the role that Radio Sheffield played during the floods that afflicted south Yorkshire in 2007. Radio Sheffield's morning breakfast show is hosted by the archetypal south Yorkshire man and ““Phoenix Nights”” comedian Toby Foster, who can raise a smile on anyone's face. He brings together music, sports, local news and national news with a local interest, and does so in a light-hearted, informative and entertaining way that works with his audience. Other presenters, including Rony Robinson, Howard Pressman, Paulette Edwards and Dean Pepall, are much loved and provide a familiar voice in the homes of people in our area. That is important, especially for the elderly and those who live alone. The demographics of Radio Sheffield listeners tend towards the older end of the age profile, and it is important to bear that in mind; we do not all want to listen to hip hop or rap on Radio Hallam. Regular phone-in programmes, to which the hon. Member for Suffolk Coastal referred, are hosted throughout the week on Radio Sheffield, and allow local people to have their say on national and local events. At the moment, it runs at least two phone-ins a day, but it would not be able to do that if the proposals were given the go-ahead. Radio Sheffield really comes into its own when something of local importance happens that may not be of interest to the national media or remains important long after the national media have moved on to other things. A good example was the floods of 2007, which badly affected my previous constituency of Sheffield Hillsborough. For a brief period, the national news focused almost entirely on Sheffield, but after a few days the focus, probably rightly, moved elsewhere. However, for the people of south Yorkshire the nightmare of flooded homes and streets continued, and a year later the people of Cumbria suffered the same problem. Radio Sheffield played a massively important social role in ensuring that local people knew what was going on—when electricity would be restored to homes, when streets would be cleaned, when traffic lights would be working and where people could go for help when they had lost everything because their homes were full of water and they had nowhere to go. Without that service, it would have been much harder for people to come to terms with the tragedy of those floods. Another immensely important role for our local radio station is its role in local sport. I was intrigued to hear the comments of the hon. Member for Suffolk Coastal about local football coverage, because the same can be said in south Yorkshire. Unfortunately, for the time being, not one south Yorkshire team is up there with the elite in the premiership. That will happen one day, although it will take time. Without local coverage, many of the area's football teams would have no coverage at all. Radio Sheffield's commentary team will travel, for example, to Exeter to cover a league one game involving Sheffield Wednesday. As a Wednesday fan, I must admit that Radio 5 Live will not cover Exeter versus Sheffield Wednesday on a Tuesday night, which is shameful. It is also certain that the national media will not be interested in reporting a game between Barnsley football club and Doncaster Rovers, but such a game is of massive importance to the people of south Yorkshire, because it is a local derby and they want to hear about it. During the week, Radio Sheffield provides a daily ““Football Heaven”” programme hosted by the commentary team, which includes Paul Walker, Seth Bennett and Andy Giddings. All three are now involved in national as well as local commentary, because the quality of their commentary is so good. They learned their trade in BBC local radio. The importance of ““Football Heaven”” and ““Praise and Grumble”” on Saturdays is that that is where ordinary fans have a chance to vent their anger, frustration and even, occasionally, their praise for their local football teams, although more often than not they are angry and frustrated. Let us also remember that for many years local radio has been the springboard for much of the country's broadcasting talent, without which tomorrow's Nicky Campbell and Simon Mayo will not enjoy the same opportunities to learn their trade. The country would be the poorer for that. Radio Sheffield is a trial for merging local radio into regional radio provision in the afternoons. I do not like that, and the people of Sheffield do not like that. I like to hear about my own area in the afternoons, not about dancing dogs in Leeds or York. I want to hear local news, and that is why I tune into the station. The move to replace all local radio stations with national Radio 5 Live for most of the day would be a retrograde step that people throughout the country will resist. Radio Sheffield was set up 44 years ago because local people wanted to hear local news and local stories. To reduce that service at a time when technology has made local reporting even easier and more immediate is wrong and should be resisted. I hope that the Government will play their part in ensuring that the BBC Trust understands how strongly hon. Members and people throughout the country feel about the issue. I look forward to hearing the Minister's response.