The BBC’s Local News Partnerships have taken a key step towards the creation of a pool of local democracy reporters to cover council and public meetings across the UK.

Contracts to employ an initial 144 full-time and two part-time Local Democracy Reporters have been allocated to 58 news organisations in England, Scotland and Wales following a competitive bidding process.

Those news organisations - ranging from a radio station to online media companies and established regional newspaper groups - will now receive funding from the BBC to cover employment costs of the reporters.

Newsquest, publishers of this newspaper, successfully secured 17 contracts, for 37 reporters. In London and the south east, the scheme will see an additional 18 reporters recruited.

Once recruited, stories written by the democracy reporters will be shared with more than 700 media organisations that have signed up to be part of the Local News Partnerships scheme.

David Holdsworth, controller of BBC English Regions, said: “This is a major advance in the partnership which will significantly improve the reporting on councils and public institutions, leading to greater public accountability for our local politicians. “

As part of its Charter commitment, the BBC is investing up to £8 million annually in the Local News Partnerships during the next nine years to the end of the Charter in 2026.

Ashley Highfield, chair of the News Media Association, said: “The ground-breaking Local News Partnership between the NMA and the BBC is now becoming a reality which will benefit the BBC, local media and, most importantly, local communities."

To be awarded the democracy reporter contracts, the 58 successful news organisations had to pass stringent criteria which included financial stability and a strong track record of relevant journalism in the area they were applying to cover.

The award decisions were made by senior editorial BBC figures across the English regions, Wales and Scotland.

The next step will be for the successful organisations to start recruiting, with a view to becoming operational in the next few months.

A total of 150 local democracy reporters will eventually be employed once all contracts have been awarded.