The white paper that will determine the future of the BBC will be published a week or so after the local elections in May, according to culture minister Ed Vaizey.
It was “perfectly appropriate within the white paper process to look at what the BBC does in a quasi-commercial fashion”, he said, after reports that the government was considering forcing the BBC to sell off its lucrative 50% stake in UKTV, which owns 10 channels including Dave and Gold.
Vaizey added that there was “a debate to be had on both sides” about how far the licence fee-funded BBC should be allowed to develop its commercial interests. The government should look at whether the BBC’s stake “holds back UKTV growing in terms of finding commercial partners”, he said.
His comments are likely to annoy the BBC, whose operations are protected by royal charter from government interference.
“We are publishing a white paper in May so the future of the BBC will be clear then,” Vaizey told an audience at Advertising Week Europe in London.
The confirmation of the date comes at a sensitive time for the relationship between the government and the broadcaster after the BBC decided to run stories about the private life of the secretary of state for media, John Whittingdale.
A sale of the UKTV stake would be a blow to the corporation, as it contributes about a third of BBC Worldwide’s profits. The commercial activities provides almost £230m annually back to the BBC, which has already been asked to shoulder the burden of providing free TV licences for people aged over 75 as part of a funding deal with the government ahead of charter renewal.
Vaizey went out of his way to stress government support for the BBC on Monday. “There’s a lot of overblown rhetoric out there about the government’s plans for the BBC. We actually support the BBC and public service broadcasting as a vital part of the broadcasting mix.
“We wouldn’t want to undermine that in any form,” he said.
The junior minister also issued a passionate plea for the UK to remain in the EU, a stance which is in line with Downing Street’s position but puts him at odds with Whittingdale.
“Leaving the EU would be an utter disaster [for the creative industries],” he said, adding that 500 broadcasting companies are based in the UK because of its membership.
His views were echoed by James Murphy, founder and chief executive of adam&eveDDB, one of the UK’s leading ad agencies.
“The biggest threat to the industry is leaving Europe,” he said, adding that exports to Europe contribute about 60% of the ad export industry expected to rise 55% in the next five years.
“We are a global leader and a huge exporter … It would be a pretty bleak moment if we just decide to jump off that train and really abdicate our involvement.”
