Plans for BBC’s future ‘confusing and misguided’ says Lords Committee

Government plans for the BBC’s future will do nothing to reduce the corporation’s vulnerability to political pressure, according to a report from the House of Lords Select Committee on the BBC Charter Review.
The Chairman of the Committee, Lord Fowler, said: “The Green Paper, ‘A strong BBC, independent of Government’, fails to live up to its title. The procedure by which the BBC’s Charter is agreed is entirely outdated. Crucial decisions affecting the BBC are taken by the Government alone. The Royal Charter - under which the BBC will operate for the next 10 years - will not be subject to proper Parliamentary scrutiny. There will be no bill and no vote on the terms of the Charter and the agreement that flows from it. The Government can easily ignore outside concerns - such as the widespread criticism of their proposals on BBC governance. The BBC cannot be truly independent of Government if Government alone has the power to decide its Charter.”
The Committee’s main findings and proposals called for the process for agreeing the BBC’s constitution should be open, transparent and not in the hands of any one political party. A BBC established by statute rather than by Royal Charter.
Furthermore, the BBC’s funding until 2017 should be through a licence fee set in an open and transparent manner. Licence fee settlements above the rate of inflation should only be agreed if there are exceptional reasons to justify them. The National Audit Office should take responsibility for evaluating the BBC’s funding requirements.
Lord Fowler said: “It is difficult to see how the increase now being proposed can be justified. There is no reason why the licence fee payer should bear the cost of digital switchover given that the Government will make a substantial amount of money from the sale of the analogue spectrum. Paying for switchover through the licence fee will particularly hurt low income households.”
The Committee recommended that the BBC should be governed by a unitary board with a majority of non-executives, one that should sit above a management committee headed by the Director-General.
Also recommended was that the Chairman of the BBC should be chosen by a truly independent panel with a majority of non-political members and a chairman who is neither a politician nor a civil servant.
The committee urged that watchdog body Ofcom should be handed the same regulatory responsibilities for BBC content as it has for other free-to-air public service broadcasters. Its Content Board should be significantly strengthened. It should adjudicate on appeals against decisions made by the BBC Board.
The BBC’s fair trading rules should be subject to Ofcom’s approval.
Lord Fowler said: “Plans for a BBC Trust to take over from the current Governors are ill-conceived. This model fails to separate governance and regulation of the BBC, allowing the Corporation to remain judge and jury in its own case. Ofcom should provide independent regulation of the BBC’s activities.”
The BBC issued a statement following the publication, which said: "BBC Governors, executives and staff have appeared before the Lords Select Committee and co-operated fully with its important contribution to Charter Review.
"The BBC supports the policy decisions in the Government's Green Paper about the Charter, licence fee and governance and, within that framework, will examine carefully the Lords’ Report as we move to implement the radical reform agenda that has been outlined to date."
(GB)