Concerns have been raised over payments of more than £186,000 of public money to two newspaper companies over a 10-month period by Westmorland and Furness Council prompting concerns over value for money, and impacts of democratic accountability.
Between April 2024 and February 2025, the council paid £139,789.59 to Newsquest Media Group Ltd, and a further £46,555.01 to Barrnon Media, which publishes the Cumberland & Westmorland Herald. All titles are printed by Newsquest at its facility in Glasgow.
Circulation figures for the newspapers involved based on published annual reports are low in comparison to the local population:
Westmorland Gazette (Newsquest): 6,579 weekly
News & Star (Newsquest): 1,776 daily
The Mail, South Cumbria (Newsquest): 2,105 daily
Cumberland & Westmorland Herald (Barrnon Media): approximately 6,500 weekly
The size of the payments, relative to the limited print reach of the publications, is now being questioned.
Colin May, Deputy Party Leader of Putting Cumbria First, said: “We have been carrying out close scrutiny of both unitary councils in Cumbria. Our party members regularly challenge both councils on issues including both councils’ failures over spending of public money and transparency, resulting in both councils finally starting to publish their monthly payments as well as credit card spending.”
He added: “Using the spending reports we successfully forced both councils to start complying with legislation to publish. We have, among many items, found the substantial payments both Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council make to two newspaper organisations.”
“Westmorland and Furness Council alone, between April 2024 and February 2025, paid £186,324.60 in public money to two newspaper businesses publishing titles in the council area — all with low circulation figures. This brings into question the value for money but also concerns over just how the substantial amounts impact the editorial coverage of the council by the publications.”
While local authorities are allowed to advertise in local media for public notices and council communications, the concentration of spending among a small group of titles, and the relatively low readership figures, has led to calls for greater scrutiny.
So, why is so much public money flowing into the coffers of so few companies?
Colin May said his party believes: “Local authorities seem to believe that they are obliged to place public notices in local newspapers that are printed on a daily, weekly or fortnightly basis – even if these titles aren’t widely read in the area.”
He continued: “Each type of public notice is covered by its own legal requirements, but all of them we believe are underpinned by the same definition of ‘newspaper’ that fails to capture the state of the media in the early twenty-first century. Legislation and councils need to catch up with the world we live in to ensure that best value is achieved for the public money they are entrusted with.”
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