Hayes FM in breach for not sticking to Key Commitments

Ofcom has investigated Hayes FM following a complaint about its output.

The community radio station in Greater London should provide original output for a minimum of eight hours per day and locally-produced output for a minimum of 13 hours per day.

Communicating with Ofcom, Hayes FM acknowledged that neither the original nor locally-produced output requirement has been met recently.

The Licensee explained that this is, at least partly, due to facing “a reduction in volunteers following [the Coronavirus pandemic and then] delays in getting all of the volunteers checked with the DBS agency”.

It set out that its current studio is on school grounds meaning a DBS check is a pre-requisite for volunteering.

The Licensee said that it is currently in the process of seeking out a new studio after its agreement with a local school to use their facilities has come to an end.

Hayes FM stressed this as a primary reason for its lack of original and locally-produced output and explained that its “energies have been and are focussed on finding alternative premises to set up a new studio to broadcast from”.

Ofcom had a listen to the station and said in terms of original output, the station met the stated eight hours only on the Friday of the week in question. Hayes FM broadcast three hours of original output on the Monday, two hours on both Tuesday and Wednesday, seven hours on Saturday and four hours on Sunday. Of particular concern was Thursday when no original output was broadcast.

The regulator added that locally-produced output was overall closer on the average to its required output, but the stated minimum was still not achieved on any of the days of the week.