Immediately before the publication of the Green Paper (BBC Charter Review Public Consultation) the House of Lords briefly debated the issues raised by the Chancellor’s Budget decisions on the licence fee and the implications of leaks from the DCMS about the future of the BBC. This is what I said.
We have just witnessed a smash-and-grab raid. As five years ago, the Chancellor has treated the licence fee as a piggy bank. The director-general has had no alternative but to look cheerful about it, and all the while the Murdoch press gleefully gets government exclusives. I share the disappointment expressed by Rona Fairhead in her letter to the Chancellor last week about there having been no public debate at all about the licence fee. I think the CMS Secretary’s former colleagues on the Select Committee will be astonished, too.
Despite this, there are still major uncertainties. A Perry report recommendation to decriminalise could have an impact of £200 million. The CPI settlement now also appears conditional. We now at least have a debate going forward about the scope of activity of the BBC and the appropriate form of governance for the BBC, but the Secretary of State for CMS and the Chancellor seem to be in disagreement about whether the BBC should continue with popular programming. There is much talk of the BBC’s online presence but, as the example of Channel 4 shows, younger audiences are increasingly migrating to the internet, catch-up and streaming for television consumption.
There are issues to be discussed. In particular whether the BBC should or could move to a publisher broadcaster model. On the trust, my colleagues and I have never felt that the current structure properly resolves the issues of responsibility for the regulation, governance and management of the BBC. Like the CMS Select Committee, I would favour handing responsibility for regulation, including service licences, to Ofcom, as well as the existing responsibility for the public value test. We must have an open debate, and I ask the Minister: is the Green Paper on track for this week?
It is good that the BBC is mustering its supporters despite the sniping of the Murdoch Press and no doubt we will be intensively debating the issues in the months to come.
I also took part in the subsequent debate on the Question asked by Lib Dem colleague Baroness Grender focusing in particular on the Advisory Panel appointed by John Whittingdale the Culture Secretary which
will meet frequently and contribute significantly to the Government’s charter review
yet it has no terms of reference,
will not take its evidence in public,
and is not subject to appointment by reference to the Nolan principles.
As I said it is no surprise that even Tory peers described them as “assistant gravediggers” (Lord Patton) —and “they clank with special interests” (Lord Fowler)
The Future of the BBC was also debated by the Liberal Democrats at our Conference in Bournemouth and we will all be keeping a close eye on the review as it unfolds.
