King’s Speech

Baroness Benjamin Excerpts

Tuesday 19th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Benjamin (LD)]

My Lords, I congratulate all noble Lords making their maiden speeches today. I wish to highlight the emotional needs of children and our duty to ensure that their happiness and well-being are at the very heart of the Government’s policy, because childhood lasts a lifetime. It is our responsibility to ensure this happens, and that includes what content they consume in the media, especially on online platforms. The content that children watch in their formative years will have an enormous impact on this outcome. We need to consider how they are being influenced and who is shaping their lives, because many are suffering from mental problems and anxieties.

I declare an interest, because this year it is 50 years since I first appeared on children’s television. Back then it was a thriving industry, contributing millions to the Treasury, but today it is no longer a viable business. Children’s television is in crisis: it has collapsed; it is on its knees.

I took millions of my “Play School” babies, the nation’s children, through the round, square and arched windows, exposing them to their world, full of fun, education and creativity. This was done with unconditional love, continuity and age-appropriate content, helping them to live through adversity and face the future. At present, we are failing our children as the content they watch in droves online on platforms like YouTube and TikTok is adding to their mental vulnerability.

The BBC has announced plans to get rid of 10% of its staff, but I make a plea that it tightly ring-fence its children’s programming output. Apart from a trickle of preschool programming from Channel 5, the BBC is the only public service broadcaster commissioning children’s TV content. If it does not, it will join Sky and ITV, which have completely abandoned children’s commissioning. Any cuts could be the hammer blow that kills off the industry completely.

I wholeheartedly agree that we need to cut down kids’ screen time, especially as the endless algorithms on YouTube and TikTok are engineered to make our children dedicated to watching content that is not culturally relevant, is highly imbalanced and does not represent their lives, voices or communities. Teachers are noticing how many children now speak with an American accent and have very little concentration span because of the way the content is delivered.

There is no use funding content, because the way the system is set up by online platforms means UK content is not easily found, which is the biggest problem. We need prominence and regulation on these platforms to ensure that the cleverly and carefully crafted, trusted content that Children’s BBC provides is not buried under content from around the world which does not reflect our children’s lives.

Streamers should give prominence to content that passes a cultural relevance test—content not just made by the BBC but from independent UK producers who at present are suffocating. With this policy the problem of finding will then be solved. Funding can be supported by having a culturally relevant tax rebate for producers, equal to that given to independent UK films. The combination of prominence and tax rebates can help increase the creation of content here in the UK. It is not where children watch but what they watch that matters. I ask the Minister: how are the Government going to rescue our decimated children’s media industry?

I believe the answer is to require online platforms, including social media companies operating in this country, to obtain a licence from Ofcom with binding conditions, just as television broadcasters are required to do. Also, as the future of the BBC is debated, I urge the Government not to consider commercialising this great and unique institution, especially its trusted children’s output, but to celebrate and support it in every way possible. It is our legacy for the future.