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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Matthew Weaver

Tories announce biggest overhaul of BBC in a decade - live updates

BBC buildings at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays, Manchester; a full review of the Corporation is announced today.
BBC buildings at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays, Manchester; a full review of the Corporation is announced today. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Summary

Here’s a summary of the BBC review and reaction to it.

That’s it for the live blog, there will be much more on the Guardian’s BBC section.

Updated

Jasper Jackson picks out the three options for the licence fee outlined in the paper.

Key points

The charter review will explore four areas of possible change:

  • Mission, Purpose and Values – what the BBC is for, examining the overall rationale for the BBC and the case for reform of its public purposes;
  • Scale and scope – what the BBC therefore should do, examining the services it should deliver and the audiences it should be seeking to serve;
  • Funding – how the BBC should be paid for, examining not just future potential funding models but related issues such as how best to enforce payment;
  • Governance – how the BBC should be overseen, examining options for reform of the current Trust model alongside other governance issues.

With this in aim, Whittingdale announced the following plans:

  • A subscription model could be an option for funding of the BBC in the long-term, but not in short term as all households don’t have the suitable technologies for this. In the short term, a reformed license fee, household levy or a hybrid model should be considered.
  • Decriminalisation of licence fee evasion would not be appropriate under the current funding model, but it will be considered as part of the review of the BBC’s charter.
  • The iPlayer loophole – whereby people can watch BBC programmes online without a licence fee - should be closed in the coming years, and the government will bring in legislation to do that.
  • The BBC Trust model needs to be reformed. Options are to create a unitary board, a new stand-alone oversight body, or a third party regulatory body like Ofcom, each of which have “pros and cons”.
  • A decision has to be taken over whether the BBC continues trying to do “all things” or took on a more “precise” mission in terms of output. BBC programmes should be distinct, and the corporation should not have the same imperatives as commercial companies, such as trying to maximise audience share. The review will consider both the “mixture and quality” of the programmes broadcast by the BBC as well as the ways they are produced.

Here’s some initial reaction from media analysts.

Updated

Privatising BBC Worldwide?

The green paper appears to confirm plans to look at privatising BBC Worldwide.

Charter Review will consider the full range of options for reforming the BBC’s commercial operations, including full or part privatisation of Worldwide.

Updated

The BBC has welcomed the conclusions of the Perry review that licence fee evasion should remain criminalised.

Updated

Rona Fairhead, chair of the BBC Trust, called for a wide ranging debate about the future of the BBC. In her response she says:

“The green paper recognises the enormous contribution that the BBC makes to the UK, and all the trust’s analysis and audience feedback over the past eight years has underlined the value that it brings to people across the country.

“Of course there are also big questions to ask about the future of the BBC, but the debate must not be a narrow one and the clearest voice in it must that of the public. We will carry out our own research and consultation to make sure of that, and we welcome the government’s statement that they will work with us and will take full account of our findings.”

Updated

Whittingdale criticised a Sunday Times story about the proposals. Its political editor Tim Shipman takes umbrage.

Updated

The DCMS invites the public to express its views on the review.

Jasper Jackson picks out another key passage in the green paper.

Given the vast choice that audiences now have there is an argument that the BBC might become more focused on a narrower, core set of services that can continue to meet its mission and objectives. A smaller BBC could see the public pay less for their TV licence and would also be likely to have a reduced market impact.

Culture secretary John Whittingdale announced a fundamental review of the size of the BBC, what it does and the way it is funded and questioned whether the BBC should continue to strive to be “all things to all people”, writes John Plunkett in a first take on the plans.

Unveiling the government’s green paper on the future of the BBC on Thursday, Whittingdale said the scale and scope of the BBC had grown exponentially in the last decade and said the time was right to question “whether this particular range of services best serves licence fee payers”.

He said an independent report into decriminalisation of non-payment of the licence fee - which the BBC has said would cost it £200m - had concluded it would not be appropriate under the current funding model.

On the BBC’s funding, he said there was “no easy solution” to how the BBC should be funded but described the current licence fee model as “regressive”.

He said subscription maybe an option in the longer term, but before then outlined three options - a reformed licence fee, a household levy, or a hybrid funding model. In the longer term he said they should consider a subscription model.

The green paper will look at four key areas - the overall purpose of the BBC, what services and content it should provide, how the BBC should be funded and how it should be governed and regulated.

“One key task is to assess whether the idea of universality still holds water. With so much more choice, we must at least question whether the BBC should try to be all things to all people,” said Whittingdale.

With the BBC Trust widely expected to be axed, Whittingdale said the BBC’s governance would be reviewed after the BBC had on occasions “fallen well short of the standards expected of it” including the Savile crisis, the £100m Digital Media Initiative fiasco, and the multi-million payouts to former staff.

He said there were concerns about how the BBC’s activities impacted on its commercial rivals, and there were “particular challenges” around how the corporation reached ethnic minorities and younger people.

David Perry QC’s review into whether to decriminalise non-payment of the TV licence has found that the current system of criminal enforcement should be maintained.

Announcing his findings, Perry said:

Following a detailed assessment of the various policy options the review has concluded that there should be no fundamental change in the sanctions regime as it applies to the current licence fee collection system. The current regime represents a broadly fair and proportionate response to the problem of licence fee evasion and provides good value for money both for licence fee payers and taxpayers.

This Review has taken place shortly in advance of an in-depth review of the BBC’s royal charter. Any change to the method of licence fee collection is likely to have an impact on the viability of introducing a non-criminal scheme of enforcement. It is to be hoped that the recommendations and observations made in this report will be of assistance to those involved in the charter review.

Updated

BBC response

BBC Director-General Lord Tony Hall
BBC Director-General Lord Tony Hall Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

The BBC says the Green Paper would “appear to herald a much diminished, less popular, BBC.” In its response it said:

The BBC is a creative and economic powerhouse for Britain. The starting point for any debate should be - how can a strong BBC benefit Britain even more at home and abroad? The BBC has embraced change in the past and will continue to do so in the future, and we will set out our own proposals in September.

We believe that this green paper would appear to herald a much diminished, less popular, BBC. That would be bad for Britain and would not be the BBC that the public has known and loved for over 90 years.

It is important that we hear what the public want. It should be for the public to decide whether programmes like Strictly or Bake Off, or stations like Radio 1 or 2, should continue.

As the director general said on Tuesday, the BBC is not owned by its staff or by politicians, it is owned by the public. They are our shareholders. They pay the licence fee. Their voice should be heard the loudest.

Updated

Is the BBC providing sufficiently distinctive content? the review asks in a key passage. It says:

This does not mean that the BBC should not be entertaining; it is about the BBC providing distinctive programming across all genre types. For example, the BBC acquired the format for The Voice. This was a singing talent show developed overseas, bought by the BBC at a reported cost of around £20 million64 and similar to ITV’s X-Factor. This is in contrast to Strictly Come Dancing which was developed by the BBC in-house and then sold abroad.

The BBC has faced similar questions about distinctiveness of its radio content, particularly in relation to its music stations in peak hours. In its recent report on BBC Radio 1, perhaps the BBC’s most ‘mainstream’ radio service, the BBC Trust found that the overlap of music played on Radio 1 with five comparator commercial stations was low, at around one third of its output.

Similarly, questions have been raised about whether content carried on the BBC’s website is sufficiently distinctive from content that can and is being developed and delivered by others.

The growth of the internet as a medium for consuming information is one of the most notable developments over the current Charter period; in this context the challenge for the BBC will be in setting itself apart from others in the online space and potentially seeking to avoid providing services such as, for example, recipes where a range of other websites already do so.

The BBC, as a public institution, should not have the same imperatives as commercial companies such as trying to maximise audience share. However, given the difficulty in measuring quality in an objective way, figures such as

ratings can be given undue prominence by senior management. The question is, therefore, how to measure the success of programming when much depends on the BBC’s ability to deliver its public purposes through its content, and how to make sure the culture of the BBC is focused on quality and distinctiveness rather than driven by ratings.

Full text of charter review

Here’s the full text of the charter review.

The DCMS has published this summary of the green paper:

It quotes Whittingdale saying:

The BBC is at the very heart of Britain. It is one of this nation’s most treasured institutions - playing a role in almost all of our lives. Ten years ago, the last time the Government ran a Charter Review, the media landscape looked very different. The BBC has adapted to this changing landscape, and remains much-loved by audiences, a valuable engine of growth and an international benchmark for television, radio, online and journalism.

However we need to ask some hard questions during this Charter Review. Questions about what the BBC should be trying to achieve in an age where consumer choice is now far more extensive than it has been, what its scale and scope should be in the light of those aims, how far it affects others in television, radio and online, and what the right structures are for its governance and regulation.

The BBC is a national institution, paid for by the public. It will have spent more than £30 billion of public money over the current Charter period. Everyone must be able to have their say on how well they think that money is spent. This consultation gives them that opportunity. It also invites them to comment on how the BBC is governed.

This publication is an important first step in an open and thorough Charter Review. It sets out the issues and some of the options for change. I want it to stimulate a national debate over the coming months as we map out the future for our BBC.

The consultation sets out four broad issues for public discussion, it says:

BBC’s mission, purpose and values

The BBC currently has six public purposes that were set out at the last Charter Review in 2006:

  • Sustaining citizenship and civil society
  • Promoting education and learning
  • Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence
  • Representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities
  • Bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK
  • Delivering to the public the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services.

All of the BBC’s activity should be working towards one or more of these. The consultation paper looks at whether these purposes are still relevant, and in the context of recent challenges the organisation has faced, if there should be more direction set about how the BBC works by defining its values in the next Charter.

Scale and scope of the BBC’s services and operations

Twenty years ago the BBC had two television channels and five national radio stations. It is now the largest public service broadcaster in the world, with nine television channels, ten national radio stations, and a major online presence. The consultation paper looks at whether this particular range of services best serves licence fee payers and the impact it has on the commercial sector given the current and future media environment.

The way in which the BBC is funded

The BBC is currently funded via the TV licence fee, which has proven to be a very resilient form of funding – bringing in £3.7 billion last year. However it is not without its challenges - for example it is regressive, set at a flat rate and is not adjusted for different household incomes. It is also true that more people - especially younger people - now access television exclusively online and without a licence. This is perfectly legal, as the existing legislation was drawn up when the iPlayer did not even exist. The Government has already committed to dealing with this problem and the Charter Review will allow us to look at how to modernise the current system.

BBC’s governance and accountability

The BBC Trust – established by the current Charter - exists to represent licence fee payers and hold the BBC to account. At times the BBC has fallen well short of the standards that the public expect of it, such as the Digital Media Initiative, the failed £100m technology project which exposed governance issues at the BBC. There are three broad alternative options - to reform the Trust model, create a unitary board and a new standalone oversight body or move external regulation wholesale to Ofcom. The Government is seeking views on these models and the wider issues of how the BBC’s transparency and accountability can be improved.

Updated

Responding shadow culture secretary Chris Bryant says the BBC is the cornerstone of Britain’s culture. He says the public wants the BBC to inform, educate and entertain. This is includes broadcasting Strictly and Bake Off. The public want opera and soap opera, Bryant says.

He asks when the government will close the iPlayer loophole?

The BBC is a source of great pride, we want it to thrive, Whittingdale said in conclusion.

Any organisation as large as the BBC needs effective governance, Whittingdale says. He said weaknesses in governance have contributed to recent failures such as investigations into Jimmy Savile.

The licence fee is not without is challenges, he says. It is a regressive test. In the long term we should consider a subscription service, Whittingdale says. The fee will increase inline with CPI but this is subject to the charter review.

The charter review will look at how content is produced. It will also look at BBC Worldwide.

What’s the purpose of the BBC? Whittingdale asks. The charter review will look at the “scale and scope” of the BBC, he confirms. Do the range of service best serve the licence fee payers? he asks.

Analysis: this wording is important, and expands the government’s ambitions for reforms, as media editor Jane Martinson explains here:

Updated

Whittingdale says the BBC sets international standards of quality. It has “pivotal role” in reaching every corner of the world, he says.

The level of change has in the last decade has be unprecedented, Whittingdale says.

We can’t predict the future, he says, but points out that people still enjoy radio and television.

Culture secretary John Whittingdale sets out BBC green paper

Here we go. Whittingdale has risen to his feet and begins his statement, 39 minutes later than scheduled.

Updated

While we wait for Whittingdale here’s more detail on the BBC’s role in organising that celebrity letter.

Questions in the Commons about NHS reforms have overrun, so we’re still waiting for Whittingdale’s statement.

Stanley Pignal from the Economist tweets his thoughts ahead of the green paper.

Updated

You can share your views on the future of the BBC via GuardianWitness. Just click on the blue ‘contribute’ button.

Here’s a flavour of the pressure Whittingdale faces from the right.

Ukip’s only MP Douglas Carswell suggests he fears the green paper won’t go far enough.

Times columnist Tim Montgomerie hails “trimming the BBC” as part of the new government’s “pacey start”.

Rob Wilson, minister for civil society, criticises the BBC-backing letter by celebrities.

Times columnist Deborah Ross says “the BBC is bloated ... its stars are overpaid [and it] gives off the feeling that being to the left is both natural and right.”

But she has a long list of why she has no wish to live in country without the BBC.

Here’s a sample:

■ Wolf Hall, because it was genius.

■ The World Service, which is listened to by 190 million people.

■ The Daily Mail hates it, which has to be worth £170 a year in anyone’s book.

■ It leaves all documentaries on two sisters joined at their thumbs, and also at the nose, and who weigh 68st, and have to be lifted from their bed by a crane, to Channel 5.

■ Not being part of the free market means it can persevere, as was the case with Blackadder, when the first series was a flop.

■ And last, when I used to tell people from other countries that you could go to university free here, I would feel proud, and now that’s gone, I’m thinking, the NHS and the BBC. We’d best hang on to them for dear life.

Summary

Welcome to live coverage of the government’s plans for the future of the BBC.

At midday culture secretary John Whittingdale is due to launch a green paper on the future of the BBC with an oral statement to the House of Commons.

It is expected to consider changing the way the BBC is funded in the long term, while committing to the licence fee for at least five years.

Government pre-briefing on the plans say they will include a “root and branch” review that will question whether the BBC has been chasing mass ratings at the expense of its original public service brief.

The review will be guided by a panel of mainly commercial experts – many of whom are critical of the BBC . It is expected to challenge everything from the licence fee to the corporation’s mandate to provide universal programming.

The paper is also likely to call for an end to the BBC Trust – the corporation 10-year-old government’s arrangement. Earlier this year the culture committee, then under the chairmanship of Whittingdale, said the trust should be replaced.

The review comes after the BBC agreed to shoulder the cost of providing free television licences for people aged over 75 in a surprise deal that will cost it £750m by 2020.

On Wednesday several prominent figures including JK Rowling, Lenny Henry and Gary Lineker, wrote an open letter to the prime minister warning against major cuts to the BBC.

And BBC’s director general, Tony Hall, signalled his willingness for fight by delivering a passionate defence of the corporation at the launch of its annual report. “The BBC does not belong to its staff or the government, but it belongs to the people … and what they want is a continually better BBC,” he said.

The Guardian’s Charlotte Higgins, who has written a new book on the BBC, reckons the the green paper will set up “a dramatic confrontation over the corporation’s very purpose”.

In a long read article headlined the “The Battle for the BBC” she sets out what’s at stake:

The question for the country now, and its politicians, is whether the BBC’s founding vision still has any currency; whether the BBC can still be something different from a media business and something more than a “content provider”. Can it still be part of the essence of Britishness, existing as a public space through which we may all pass as equals, selling us nothing, simply there for our information, education and entertainment? Can it remain our “guide, philosopher and friend”, as [BBC Founder Lord] Reith had it? In the end, these are questions that cut to the heart of what British society consists of, and what kind of nation we want to be. It is an argument that the BBC can win or lose; and it is in the newly empowered Conservatives’ gift to decide its fate. All that could possibly stand in the government’s way is the will of the people. Britain will have the BBC it deserves.

On Wednesday several prominent figures including JK Rowling, Lenny Henry, and Gary Lineker, wrote an open letter to the prime minister warning against major cuts to the BBC.

But Luke Johnson, former chairman of Channel 4, gives a flavour of what the corporation’s critics are demanding. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he said the BBC should not waste licence fee money on programmes such as The Voice which could be provided by commercial rivals.

He added: “Unfortunately long-established places like the BBC tend to resist change and tend to see their imperative as growth at all costs. But often more means worse.”

Both the Sun and the Daily Mail have hostile pieces on what they dub the “luvvie letter” from celebrities defending the BBC.

The Mail says some signatories, including Michael Palin, were asked to sign the letter by senior figures in the BBC.

The Sun dismisses the move as “luvvie aid” from celebs with a vested interest.

While we wait for Whittingdale’s statement (at midday), here’s a reminder that the BBC has a long history of wheeling out the stars to defend the licence fee.

Yesterday’s BBC-backing letter to the Telegraph by a series of celebrities had echoes of a publicity film put out in the late 1980s to justifying the then £58 annual fee. “What have BBC ever given us?” asks John Cleese. Various answers are provided by the likes of Bob Geldof, David Attenborough, Sue Lawley plus the late Patrick Moore, Michael Hordern, Brian Johnson, Alan Whicker and Ronny Barker.

Updated

Ahead of the announcement there’s much speculation in the today’s press about the government’s plans for the BBC.

The Telegraph says families could “a Finnish-style means-tested broadcasting levy to pay for the BBC”.

Its says Whittingdale will consider “plans for a new means tested levy to be paid by better-off taxpayers based on their annual income – regardless of whether or not they own a television.”

It also previews David Perry QC report on whether to decriminalise the non-payment of the licence fee. It says Perry will urge ministers to continue prosecuting licence fee evaders despite expressing concerns that it is disproportionately affecting women and leaving hundreds of thousands of people facing court action.

Government sources briefing the FT have played down fears of an “inflammatory green paper” on the future of the BBC is in fact “extremely generic” and “doesn’t take a position”, people familiar with its contents have said.

One person close to the process said the green paper “asks genuine questions about what the BBC should be doing and how it should be financed. It is straight up and down.”

That suggests at least a temporary detente while detailed discussions take place.

The BBC will receive a further fillip on Thursday, when a government-commissioned review recommends that non-payment of the licence fee should not be decriminalised. The BBC has pushed hard against decriminalisation, arguing it could reduce its licence fee revenue by £200m a year.

Updated

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