BBC

Lord Clement-Jones Excerpts

Thursday 12th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

I would like to discuss this with the noble Lord. As I have explained, there is a combination of the director-general, who has editorial independence but has to take account of the public interest, the new executive board, which will on a day-to-day basis and strategically try to ensure that that is achieved, and a new regulator. The precise detail of how that will work is set out in some detail in the White Paper that we have just published. We should all have a look at it and return to that point in the debate we will have.

[Lord Clement-Jones (LD)]

My Lords, I must come back to distinctiveness. With great respect, I am afraid the Minister did not answer the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Alli, on distinctiveness. Many of us are very concerned that this is the thin edge of the wedge that will prevent the BBC competing with commercial broadcasters in prime time and that it is deliberately designed to do so. What assurance can the Minister give to this House that that is not the intention and that that will not be the case?

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

I think I can assure my noble friend that that is not the intention. It is something that the BBC has fully recognised and embraced. The BBC’s director-general has been the driving force here. He has highlighted that he wants to see a system that,

“firmly holds our feet to the fire on distinctiveness”.

To my mind, that is what the White Paper’s proposals will deliver.