The backbench Scottish Affairs Committee today published a report entitled 'Crisis in the Scottish Press' following an inquiry carried out earlier this year.

It revealed that the decision of 32 Scottish councils to launch a combined jobs portal has so far cost the newspaper industry in Scotland £5m.

The report also says a further £10m of revenue may be at risk if local authority public notices are switched over to the site.

The committee pointed out that just 32pc of the Scottish population have access to broadband - much lower than in the UK as a whole.

"Whilst it is understandable that local authorities will want to reduce costs in the current economic climate, there are concerns that advertising jobs on public sector portals only was likely to limit the field of applicants to those already in the public sector rather than the wider audience of traditional print media," said the report.

"We are concerned at suggestions of a move to publish public notices on public sector portals whilst broadband take-up remains relatively low in some areas of Scotland.

"We would ask the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish Executive to produce evidence that substantial parts of the population would not be excluded before removing public notices entirely from print media."

The report also said the committee "noted" the concerns that had been raised over the impact of recent job losses on the ability of the Scottish press to deliver high-quality journalism.

"It is vital that both the Scottish Executive and the UK Government ensure that the Scottish newspaper industry is not made unviable through overbearing competition from public sector advertising, and that the industry is able to adapt itself to create sustainable business models, through consolidation and mergers subject to the appropriate safeguards, whilst maintaining high quality, varied and independent journalism that reflects the Scottish identity," the report concludes.