Local authority publicity

MPs are clashing with the government over proposals to curb councils' freedom to publish literature.

The communities and local government committee has published a report on the new code of practice to be introduced regulating local authorities' freesheets.

Ministers will only allow the publications to be released on a quarterly basis as they seek to clamp down on "town hall Pravdas".

That follows complaints from local newspapers that the publications are unfairly competing with them. The Newspaper Society failed to come up with any data backing up this claim, the report noted.