BBC Charter Review Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateJim Shannon
Main Page: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)Department Debates - View all Jim Shannon's debates with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
(1 day, 11 hours ago)
Commons ChamberThe outcome of the BBC charter review has been awaited for a considerable time. Let me begin by quoting a sentence that has been quoted on many previous occasions:
“The Mission of the BBC is to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain.”
As someone said in a different context many years ago, that would be a very good idea.
I will not detain the House too long, but as my hon. Friend will know, many of our constituents who are put off by BBC bias—but who watch, for example, the BBC Parliament channel, and are probably watching it at this moment—are astounded that they will now pay £174.50 for the privilege of, in the words of one of my constituents, watching biased news reporting and social justice tracking programmes, when all they really want to do is hear the news and watch a programme on farming. The BBC—what are they?
Given that my hon. Friend is a master of both taking and making interventions, I agree with his comment.
The previous Government made a statement in April, which was just six or seven months ago. It explained that the purpose of the charter review was:
“To take stock, at the Charter’s half-way point, and evaluate the effectiveness of the BBC’s governance and regulation.”
The statement continued:
“The role of public service broadcasting and a free press has never been more significant than it is today. We are all living in an era of fake news”—
the Government were certainly right about that—
“where social media creates echo chambers of opinion, presents individual experience as established fact and mis and disinformation go unchallenged.”
That sets the context for the mid-term review.
I will move on to the comments made by the director general of the BBC, who has repeatedly said that he wants to see greater accountability from the organisation. I agree with him that the BBC should be more accountable; hopefully, the new manifestation of the charter will explain and expand on that. For example, we have had over a number of years what the BBC calls the “on-screen talent”. They have only recently had to declare their BBC salaries publicly; I and others campaigned for that over many years. Many people said it would never be done, but thankfully it was. Now we see, year on year, the top presenters all having their BBC salaries declared. So they should, because we the public pay those salaries, and ought to know what they are.
There is another point that the charter review should take account of. A small number of presenters have their BBC salaries declared, but some of them have private companies, which get commissioned to make programmes that appear on the BBC. We are not allowed to know what the proceeds of those commissioned programmes are, so it could be the case that some on-screen talent get, for example, £300,000 or even over £400,000 a year. They are paid directly by the BBC for their appearances on the BBC, but because they have a private company that gets commissioned to make programmes, they get additional sums of money. We do not know whether that is a substantial five-figure sum, or even a substantial six-figure sum. The director general says that he wants to see greater accountability, and we want to see the sums. Hopefully, the charter review can address that.
Yes, I do accept that, and it is something we can look at as part of the charter review. Of course, Ofcom, as the BBC’s independent regulator, holds the BBC to account on its performance and its commissioning practices, and on the market impact of those.
The hon. Gentleman mentioned BBC pay, which I appreciate is a matter of debate and controversy. The royal charter requires the BBC, as he rightly said, to publish the salary details of all BBC staff and talent paid over £178,000. Salary disclosures of this kind were made for the first time as part of the 2016-17 annual report. The salaries of BBC staff are also a matter for the BBC and the individuals themselves, not for Government. However, the charter review will look again at the transparency of this issue.
In my intervention on my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell), I referred to impartiality and BBC bias. Many of my constituents feel that the BBC is not impartial. Under the charter, is it possible for people to express such concerns, and for those concerns to be investigated?
Of course, and there is a complaints procedure right now. A complaint goes to the BBC first, and it can then be escalated. If the hon. Gentleman’s constituents are not happy, they can then go to Ofcom. As part of the charter review, it is absolutely right that all members of the public can have their say. We will be launching a public consultation so that his constituents, and indeed people across the country, can have their say, because we want the BBC to represent the people it serves.
Next year, the Government will launch a charter review with the aim of addressing some of the challenges we are discussing today and delivering a renewed charter by the end of 2027 that will support the BBC not just to survive but to thrive long into the future. This will be the ninth charter review in the BBC’s history. It will be an opportunity to consider what the BBC is for, how it delivers for audiences and how it should be funded, governed and regulated against a rapidly changing media environment. The charter review will also look to uphold the BBC’s independence and ensure that it maintains the public’s trust.
Charter review is a well-established process, and our next step will be to publish the terms of reference next year, setting out the objectives we wish to achieve. We will ensure that we take all relevant views into account as part of the review. With that in mind, next summer we will also launch a public consultation, as part of which we will encourage everyone to share evidence. We need to have a truly national conversation and ensure that the BBC is reflective of the people it serves, wherever they come from and whatever their background. Once we have consulted widely, considered the views of stakeholders and assessed the evidence, we will outline our policy direction for the next BBC charter in a White Paper in 2026.
There will also be an opportunity to place a draft charter before both Houses before the current charter expires in 2027. The devolved Governments will be a key part of the conversation and I look forward to visiting Northern Ireland in the coming months. I have met the Northern Ireland Minister for Communities online, and I welcome further conversations with my devolved counterparts.
As we address vital issues about the future of the BBC, we must ensure that there is a sustainable funding model that is fair to those who pay for it. We will consider that area as part of the upcoming charter review. The media landscape has changed radically since the current charter was introduced in 2017, and the BBC faces key challenges to its sustainability. We cannot ignore the fact that the challenges to the funding model in its current form are increasing, and we are fully committed to retaining the licence fee for the rest of this charter period. However, for the BBC to succeed, it must have sustainable funding to allow it to adapt and thrive in a changing media landscape.
We are clear that what the BBC does and what it can achieve are inextricably tied to how it is funded, and those issues should be considered together. The charter review will be an important part of making sure that the BBC is supported to do that. The Government are keeping an open mind about the best solutions. As my Department’s work progresses, we will be working closely with the BBC and engaging with other broadcasters, stakeholders across the creative industries and the British public to inform our thinking.
While audience trends are changing, there are still millions of households that continue to rely on digital terrestrial television, also known as Freeview. I am glad to say that the continuity of the technology has been secured in legislation until at least 2034. The need to maintain traditional broadcasting platforms, at the same time as there is a shift to online viewing, is resulting in more choice for audiences, but it is creating financial pressures for our broadcasters, including the BBC.
Our project on the future of TV distribution will explore those issues. We will analyse how people receive their television programmes now, and through the next decade. It will help us to ensure the continuity of a sustainable TV ecosystem and the best outcome for audiences. As part of the project, I am glad to be chairing a new stakeholder forum on the future of TV distribution, allowing me to hear from TV stakeholders, including the BBC, infrastructure providers and groups that represent the interests of audiences. I will, of course, raise the issue of TV distribution when I next meet my counterparts in the devolved Governments.
The charter review provides us with an exciting opportunity to engage the widest possible range of voices on the future of the BBC. The Government are committed to having a truly national conversation as part of the charter review. It will be an honest, supportive and respectful debate that can give the public confidence in their BBC. We will provide more details on what that looks like and how stakeholders can contribute their views in due course, when we launch the review next year. The hon. Member for East Londonderry has contributed to that national conversation today, and for that I thank him.
Question put and agreed to.