1 Ummah FM lands in trouble with Ofcom

Muslim community radio station, 1 Ummah FM in Reading, has been rapped by Ofcom for compliance issues.

Ofcom therefore asked 1 Ummah FM for recordings of its output across three days in August 2015 so that it could assess the complaint. However, due to a fault with the Licensee�۪s equipment, it was unable to provide Ofcom with the requested material. Following an investigation, Ofcom found the Licensee to be in breach of Licence Conditions 8(2)(a) and (b), which require the Licensee to make and retain recordings for the previous 42 days of output and produce them forthwith to Ofcom upon request.

To assess the original complaint concerning the station�۪s compliance with Key Commitments, Ofcom requested an additional three days of recording from the Licensee in November 2015.

The Licensee responded that, due to a problem with its computer, the recordings for the dates requested were ���missing�۝.

1 Ummah FM had provided Ofcom with a list of 47 non-consecutive days for which it could provide recordings. However, it recognised that it had ���been unable to provide recordings to Ofcom upon request for certain dates and times on a number of occasions�۝.

The Licensee gave a number of reasons as to why its PC-based recording system had failed. These included: ���System shut down��_ Recording software logging out��_ Not being able to reach the radio station in good time to do a restart of system manually��_�۝. 1 Ummah FM stated that these and other problems were being caused by anti-virus software scans causing the PC to shut down and not automatically restarting, meaning that the recording software would also have been shut down.

The Licensee assured Ofcom that ���we are staying on top of this matter and have since rectified this issue of the PC shutting down. The recordings are currently consistent and in order�۝.

Ofcom was particularly concerned that, despite assurances by the Licensee that it had improved its compliance procedures, the improvements have not proved sufficiently robust to prevent further breaches of Licence Conditions (8)(2)(a) and (b). Under its licence, 1 Ummah FM is required to ensure that it makes, retains and can produce recordings to Ofcom upon request. Ofcom said that the breaches were repeated, despite assurances from the Licensee that the previous difficulties with its recording system had been resolved.

Ofcom has therefore put 1 Ummah FM on notice that Ofcom will be considering these breaches for the imposition of a statutory sanction.