Local Democracy Reporting Service
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency, delivering impartial coverage of the regular business and workings of local and other relevant democratic institutions in the UK for the benefit of qualifying media partners.
Stories written by Local Democracy Reporters are shared with established news providers across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that serve local, regional or BAME communities that have signed up to be part of the Local News Partnerships scheme [LNP].
Local Democracy Reporters are funded by the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, but contracts of employment are held by a selection of the qualifying media partners.
Complaints about published content
Concerns about published or broadcast stories sourced from Local Democracy Reporters should, in the first instance, be directed to the relevant news organisation that has published/broadcast the item.
On receipt of a complaint, the relevant news organisation will investigate the complaint in line with its own complaints’ policy, referring to the Local Democracy Reporters’ contracted employer if required.
No complaint about published content can be investigated by the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, unless the story has appeared on a Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ platform.
Concerns about delivery of service
Full details regarding delivery and expectations of the Local Democracy Reporting Service can be found at
Concerns about the delivery of the service or management of Local Democracy Reporters should, in the first instance, be emailed to news.partnerships@bbc.co.uk for further investigation.
Where possible, concerns will be treated in confidence upon request.
Shared Data Unit
The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Shared Data Unit was formed to create and share data journalism with partner news organisations across the media industry.
Concerns about stories sourced from the Shared Data Unit but published or broadcast by a partner news organisation should, in the first instance, be directed to the relevant organisation.
On receipt of a complaint, the relevant news organisation will investigate the complaint in line with its own complaints’ policy, referring to the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ if required.
Complaints about Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ usage of Shared Data Unit content can be submitted via email, telephone or post.