BBC White Paper
Debate between John Whittingdale and Helen Grant
Mr Whittingdale
The people who initially did not want it to be set at a lower level were in the BBC. The BBC raised concerns about the potential consequences. For instance, it talked about whether it might result in poaching once people’s salary levels were known. There was also a concern that it might have the effect of bidding up salaries. I do not think that those concerns are merited, but as I say, we have taken a first step towards greater transparency and I hope that in due course we can go further.
Let me very quickly address the point raised by the hon. Member for Garston and Halewood about the contestable pot. The contestable pot is a small amount of money, amounting to £60 million over three years, which, out of the total amount of money available to the BBC, is a very small amount. It does not affect the July settlement. We made it absolutely clear that the Government stand by the July settlement, and the funding for the contestable pot does not in any way affect it. We will be consulting on precisely how the contestable pot will operate. The hon. Lady raises concerns about whether it will fall within the requirements in respect of state aid. I rather hope that that will become an academic issue in a few weeks’ time but if, extraordinarily, it still applies, we will need to take that into account.
Far from threatening the BBC, the proposals in the White Paper, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Damian Green) said earlier, have been welcomed by it. Lord Hall, the director-general, said:
“This White Paper delivers a mandate for the strong, creative BBC the public believe in. A BBC that will be good for the creative industries—and most importantly of all, for Britain.”
The BBC Trust chairman has, as I mentioned earlier, talked about the
“constructive engagement between the Government, the BBC and the public”
which
“has delivered a White Paper that sets good principles, strengthens the BBC’s governance and regulation and cements a financial settlement”.
The chair of the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television, Laura Mansfield, said:
“This is an historic charter for the UK’s entire production sector and recognises the world-leading creativity British producers bring across every genre of production. This white paper will give BBC commissioners the freedom to choose the very best ideas, wherever they come from, whether that’s BBC Studios, the smallest or the largest production companies, while ensuring diversity of supply and regionality is rightly protected.”
The right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy) was one of the first people who celebrated the fact that diversity is for the first time to be enshrined in the BBC charter.
Mrs Helen Grant (Maidstone and The Weald) (Con)
On regulation and diversity, does my right hon. Friend agree that Ofcom itself may need to better reflect the population of the United Kingdom, especially as diversity becomes an ever-increasing component of its regulatory requirement?
Mr Whittingdale
We are looking at ways of enforcing the licence fee requirement. Anybody who watches live television is required to have a licence, so those databases represent people who are required to have a television licence.
I wish to add in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Mrs Grant) that although I would not suggest that she is not right to be concerned, Ofcom took a major step towards greater diversity with the appointment of a female BME chief executive, who is doing a fantastic job. I am sure she would agree that there is still more that needs to be done.
Mr Whittingdale
We have set diversity as one of the public purposes in the charter. How the BBC delivers that is a matter for the BBC, but having been given that requirement, it will have to state how it will go about it, and that will be subject to Ofcom scrutiny.
The BBC reaches 97% of the UK population and 348 million people around the world every week. It is one of our most recognisable and strongest national brands and an utterly vital source of information, education, entertainment and soft power. It is precisely because the BBC has such a special place in British life and is so valued by the British people, and because the rest of the world feels the same way, that this Government wanted to secure its future and enable it to thrive in a media landscape that has changed beyond recognition in the past decade. That is what the proposals in this White Paper do.
BBC
Debate between John Whittingdale and Helen Grant
Mr Whittingdale
That was utterly desperate. Just because the hon. Gentleman cannot find anything in the statement to disagree with, he now thinks there must be something hidden away that I have not mentioned to which he can object. The detail of the White Paper is well known to the director-general and the chairman of the BBC Trust, both of whom have said it is an excellent White Paper that will help to ensure that the BBC continues to thrive.
Mrs Helen Grant (Maidstone and The Weald) (Con)
The BBC has struggled with diversity on-screen and off-screen for far too long, so I absolutely welcome the enshrinement of diversity in the new charter. It is the right and the wise thing to do. Does the Secretary of State agree that attracting the brightest and most diverse talent will improve the content of the BBC’s offering, and ultimately the ratings?
Mr Whittingdale
I very much agree with my hon. Friend, who is right to highlight this point. A number of people have been pressing this matter, not least my hon. Friend the Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy, who is sitting beside me, and the right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy), whom I am pleased to see in his place. I would also like to thank Lenny Henry, who has been in to talk to us several times about the matter.
I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Mrs Grant), because research we have conducted shows that, although appreciation of the BBC is high throughout the country, there is a feeling, particularly among some black, Asian and minority ethnic audiences, that they are underserved. We are very keen to address that, in terms of both the diverse range of talent behind the camera and in the production process and those who appear on-screen. In particular, we want to ensure that those who choose to watch the BBC, from every section of our community, find programming they want to watch.