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<p>The government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers as vital
pillars of communities and local democracy, ensuring the provision of reliable, high-quality
information. Local newspapers have benefited from a number of recent fiscal interventions,
including the extension of business rates relief for local newspapers in England for
an additional five years; the investment of £2 million in the Future News Fund, which
sought to explore new ways of sustaining the industry in a changing landscape; and
the zero-rating of VAT on e-newspapers, which was brought forward to May 2020 in response
to the effects of the pandemic. In addition, many newspapers have benefitted from
a unique and unprecedented government advertising partnership, designed to deliver
important messages to UK citizens. Newspapers received up to £35 million additional
government advertising revenue as part of the first phase of our coronavirus communications
campaign. The campaign has since been extended to also cover business readiness for
the end of the transition period and the value of the Union, with at least 60% funding
going to smaller regional and local titles.</p><p>Some news publishers have made use
of wider government measures as well, such as the job-retention scheme which we have
extended until the end of March 2021.</p><p>Longer term, we will continue to consider
all possible options in the interests of promoting and sustaining high-quality news
journalism.</p><p> </p>
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