Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many times the Public Service Broadcasting Advisory Panel has met since it was established; which Ministers attended each meeting; and if she will publish the minutes of each meeting of the Panel.

The Public Service Broadcasting Advisory Panel was established in November 2020 in order to provide independent expertise and advice for the government’s strategic review of public service broadcasting.

Since its establishment, the Panel has met six times, on the following dates: (i) 19 November 2020; (ii) 14 January 2021; (iii) 24 March 2021; (iv) 18 May 2021; (v) 21 July 2021; and (vi) 24 November 2021. It is not expected to meet further.

The first meeting was attended by the then Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE MP; the second, third, fourth and fifth meetings by the then Minister of State for Media and Data, the Rt Hon John Whittingdale OBE MP; and the sixth by the Minister of State for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure, Julia Lopez MP.

In accordance with the Panel’s published terms of reference, the government does not intend to publish the minutes of the Panel. The Government will set out the conclusions of its strategic review of public service broadcasting in due course.