Select committee inquiry
BBC Digital
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“The BBC has an ambition of extracting more value from its online presence and sees accelerating digital as essential to its success. To achieve this, the BBC is undertaking a digital transformation. The BBC is also seeking to enhance its digital portfolio, which includes iPlayer, Sounds, News and Sports. This inquiry is based on the National Audit Office investigation into BBC Digital . The Committee will question Director General of the BBC, Tim Davie CBE, in January, to further examine: - whether the BBC is on track to deliver value to its users from this digital transformation - the robustness of the BBC’s plans for digital transformation and - whether the BBC has put in place the resources and governance it needs to deliver this plan. If you have evidence on these questions, please submit it here by 6pm on Monday 2 January 2023. Please have a look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that has been published elsewhere.”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What it found
In the committee's words, from the summary of Forty-Sixth Report - BBC Digital ↗
The BBC is increasingly investing in digital products. As of September 2022, 88% of the time that BBC audiences spent with its services was through traditional television and radio broadcasting. But more people are moving towards digital services year-on-year and the BBC considers that it needs to plan for a future where TV and radio distribution is only provided through the internet. We welcome the BBC’s continued commitment to its universal service obligation and note that it is not actively putting a date on switchover (it expects this transition to take place through the 2030s). We caution that the BBC must not move too quickly towards digital only, leaving behind those with poor access to digital services. Maintaining universal service will depend on sufficient broadband coverage across the UK and the BBC will need to work with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which is also responsible for broadband roll-out, to address digital exclusion issues.
The BBC is operating in a very competitive environment across multiple genres and competing against different types of organisations including traditional broadcasters, streamers and audio services. Despite this the BBC has the advantages of its breadth of content, including live coverage, and its support for older technology for longer than its rivals. The BBC’s key digital products are performing well when compared with its rivals.
This is despite it only spending £98 million in 2021–22 on digital product development compared with £1.7 billion spent by Netflix on technology and development.
However, we are not convinced that the BBC currently knows the detail of the resources needed to achieve its digital plans and whether the £500 million to be invested annually by 2025 will be sufficient to also allow it to plan for an internet only future. It will need to develop clearer financial plans including which services it will close and what happens if it does not make the savings required elsewhere to allow it to reinvest in digital development.
The BBC wants to provide a more personalised service for its audiences but, unlike many of its rivals, it will need to develop a personalisation strategy that is consistent with public service obligations. It will need to move more quickly on this and in parallel develop its data security policies to ensure they are fit for purpose as the BBC collects more user data.
What the government said
The government responded on 27 June 2023. The deadline was 28 June 2023.
BBC Response to Public Accounts Committee: BBC Digital Forty-Sixth Report of Session 2022-2
BBC Response to Public Accounts Committee: BBC Digital Forty-Sixth Report of Session 2022-2, 3 July 2023.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response.The BBC welcomes the Committee's recommendations and says it will incorporate them into its Digital First planning, while setting out where its approach differs, for example on personalisation.
- On an internet-only future, the BBC agrees it should work with other broadcasters, government and stakeholders, and says it is doing more detailed work and will develop "detailed plans and scenarios over the next year". It has not put a date on switchover and does not anticipate switching off over-the-air broadcasts "in the near or mid-term future".
- On the digital investment plan, the BBC says its aim is to hold the level of savings and reinvestment in its £500m plans, and that if existing savings plans are not achieved "additional savings plans" will be needed.
- On personalisation, the BBC says it is "not developing a standalone personalisation strategy per se" but incorporating personalisation into the workplans of relevant product teams by 2023/24. It commits to update the Committee on a broader data strategy by December 2023.
- On data, the BBC says it already endeavours to collect the minimum data required and that "work to review data retention practices is additionally in progress".
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty sixth report from Session 2022-23
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty sixth report from Session 2022-23, 27 June 2023.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response.The document does not set out a government position on the report; it states only that the BBC "will write directly to the Committee regarding the recommendations in the report".
- The document is an introduction from the Committee, and it records that the Committee took evidence from the BBC on 21 November 2022 about its plans for digital transformation, based on a National Audit Office report.
- It states that the Committee published its report on 28 April 2023.
- No agreement, disagreement or specific commitment on the recommendations is stated in the document; the BBC's response is to come directly to the Committee, with no date given.
Read the government's response: BBC Response to Public Accounts Committ… ↗Read the government's response: Treasury minutes: Government response t… ↗ Read the report ↗ Report an error
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 28 November 2022 to 3 July 2023. The dashed mark is the deadline Parliament records for the government's response.
- Oral evidence 12 Jan 2023
- Report 28 Apr 2023
- Government response 2 responses
- Correspondence 2 letters
What it recommended 4 recommendations · 26 conclusions
2Require BBC to confirm digital investment plan details and sufficiency of £500 million savings.
Recommended (the committee's words)
The BBC has a high-level plan in place for its £500 million of annual savings and reinvestment into digital, but it is unclear whether this will cover its new ambition to transition to an internet-only future in the 2030s. Following its January 2022 licence fee settlement with government, the BBC estimated that it would have a funding gap of £285 million a year by 2027–28. It says that has now increased to nearly £400 million due to inflation, in addition to its funding being cut by 30% in real terms over the past 10 years. The BBC has an overarching target for its digital services to be within at least the top three for UK market share. As part of its digital first plan, announced in May 2022, it committed to an additional £50 million for digital product development from 2025. However, the BBC has not fully determined the details of its £500 million digital investment plan and reports that it is refining the detail required through its current budgeting process. Its plan is heavily dependent on it being able to achieve further savings for reinvestment, but it did not say what it will do if these saving targets become unachievable. Recommendation 2: The BBC should write to the Committee, within two months and once its budget is finalised for the financial year, with reassurance that it has developed the necessary detail in support of its digital investment plan. It should set out: • if its £500 million annual investment by 2025 is sufficient to achieve its plans; • how it will achieve all the required savings; and 6 BBC Digital • what will happen to its digital plans if it is unable to achieve its savings target.
3Develop BBC plan for recruiting and retaining specialist digital staff, including succession planning.
Recommended (the committee's words)
The BBC faces a significant challenge in a very competitive market to recruit and retain staff with the right digital skills. The BBC had a 23% staff turnover rate in its digital product group as of June 2022. Shortages of digital skills are an economy-wide challenge that is not unique to the BBC, and we have regularly heard of similar challenges across government itself, for example with our recent inquiry into the defence digital strategy. The BBC reports that these challenges became more complex during 2022 because of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic leading to wage increases as well as more staff working remotely, with people in a local area becoming part of a wider, sometimes international, recruitment market. However, the BBC says that attrition rates are now reducing and its ability to recruit and retain staff is improving. The BBC does not pay digital staff as much as many of its rivals. It acknowledges that it has increased the ranges for some of its digital jobs by more than the standard pay rise that it gave to most of its employees last year. While salaries are important, the BBC also seeks to make the most of its inherent attractiveness as an employer giving the opportunity to work on a very wide range of products compared to others and also supporting a public service purpose. Recommendation 3: The BBC should develop a plan for how it will maintain its recent progress in recruiting and retaining specialist digital staff including succession planning specific to the key digital skills that it needs for the future.
4Accelerate development of the BBC's personalisation strategy for audiences and public service purposes.
Recommended (the committee's words)
The BBC’s approach to how it will develop personalised services for audiences is not yet well developed. The BBC wants to personalise its products and services such that audiences can access content that is of interest to them, while also fulfilling its public service obligations. The BBC sees this as a new and interesting challenge and says that, unlike its commercial rivals, it aims to strike a careful balance through human curation of content as well as the use of algorithms. It recognises that its public service obligations should be at the heart of its personalisation strategy. The BBC has spoken about personalisation ambitions over the past nine years and worked to personalise individual products such as the iPlayer. But there is as yet no comprehensive personalisation strategy in place to show what this would look like in practice. Recommendation 4: The BBC should move more quickly on the development of a personalisation strategy that serves its public sector purposes while fulfilling its ambitions for a more tailored experience for its audiences. It should write to the Committee on its progress by December 2023.
5Review BBC data collection and storage policies, ensure minimum data collection and safety.
Recommended (the committee's words)
The BBC has developed its approach to data security since 2019 but is not yet doing enough to manage the risks arising from increased access to users’ personal data. The BBC needs to collect and hold some audience data to help it to compete in the digital space, and crucial to this is sign-in, where audiences register for and use a BBC account to access its digital services. The BBC has a sign-in strategy, with a target for 72% of digital product views to come from signed-in users by 2023. It also has an overall goal of 23.5 million signed-in users by 2023. The BBC tries not to collect or hold more data about audiences than is necessary and reassured us that it has no plans to commercialise the data that it collects. That makes it distinct from BBC Digital 7 other digital providers. The BBC appointed a data protection officer in 2019 and also set up a central data protection team. However, the increased use of personal data exposes the BBC to more potential risks and it has not shown clearly that its active management of those risks is yet sufficiently embedded. The BBC has assured us that there have been no significant data breaches in the current financial year. Recommendation 5: The BBC should review its data collection and storage policies and work out the minimum amount of data that is needed to achieve its goals, what will be sufficient for its personalisation strategy, and how it will keep that data safe. 8 BBC Digital 1 Planning and funding
1Committee receives evidence regarding BBC's digital transformation plans.
Concluded (the committee's words)
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the BBC about its plans for digital transformation.1
6BBC shows limited strategic planning for wholesale move from traditional broadcasting.
Concluded (the committee's words)
In December 2022, the BBC’s Director-General followed up on the May announcement, describing the BBC’s vision for where it should aim to be by the 2030s and setting out plans to move to an internet future with greater urgency.6 He stated that the BBC would be active in future in planning for the switching off traditional broadcasting. However, as reported by the National Audit Office, also last December, the BBC has only conducted limited work planning out scenarios in which it could potentially move away from traditional broadcasting at a more wholesale, strategic level. Nor had it set out those older services which it will protect, or the wider implications of removing certain broadcast channels for access by disabled audiences and other groups at risk of being digitally excluded.7
7Director-General clarifies BBC's future digital strategy, stressing no active switchover date.
Concluded (the committee's words)
At our evidence session in January 2023, the Director-General reiterated to us the need for urgency and how, by any forecast of the future, the vast majority of media consumption will be via the internet.8 However, he also told us that, in his December speech, he had been deliberately provocative, and that his speech had also been somewhat misreported. He stressed that “I didn’t say we are going fully digital by the 2030s”.9 He also stressed the BBC’s strategic desire to maintain universality and that the BBC was not actively setting a date for a switchover. He said that the BBC understood how many people relied on DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) and it would be “an act of self-harm to cut people off from the BBC.”10
8Reversal of BBC Three's digital-only move highlights risks of premature switchover.
Concluded (the committee's words)
BBC Three was taken off air as a traditional linear broadcast channel and was made an internet-only channel in 2016. Six years later that decision was reversed on the grounds of it having reduced the BBC’s impact with younger audiences, particularly those who still watched broadcast TV.11 We raised this, and the BBC acknowledged that “We went a bit early” and that while it might be easy to go to digital, “you can go to digital and be a lot smaller quite fast”.12
9BBC acknowledges and addresses NAO recommendations for future broadcast-internet service planning.
Concluded (the committee's words)
The BBC also acknowledged the four recommendations in the NAO report, one of which was to build on its December 2022 announcement and plan scenarios for how it could move between broadcast and internet services in the future. It said that those recommendations were extremely helpful, appropriately challenging, and that it had been working hard on them.13
10BBC has a critical role in educating older, less tech-confident audiences on new technology.
Concluded (the committee's words)
We raised the question of education for people, typically older people, who are not familiar or confident with adopting what may be new technology to them. The BBC stressed its universality obligation to ensure that content is accessible. It also said it was critical that there was focus and prioritisation of its limited resources to ensure it continued to serve all its audiences, young and old.14 The BBC told us it had a huge role to play in education, 6 C&AG’s Report, paras 3, 1.2 7 C&AG’s Report, para 1.19 8 Q 23 9 Qq 24, 25 10 Qq 36, 45 11 C&AG’s Report, para 1.18 12 Q 68 13 Q 91; C&AG’s Report, para 20 14 Q 44 10 BBC Digital commenting that people tend to trust the BBC, and that it would have a lot of services for getting older populations to engage. It said that education would have to be part of the transition through the 2030s “and for as long as it takes”.15
11BBC's universal service commitments threatened by inadequate broadband roll-out and affordability issues.
Concluded (the committee's words)
Good quality access to online services will rely of course on the roll-out of broadband, overseen by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. We noted that the BBC’s universal service commitments could not be met with current broadband provision.16 The BBC highlighted that with a perfect broadband service, audiences could get much better functionality than with traditional broadcast TV.17 But broadband roll-out is of course a much wider issue than just concerning the BBC and the BBC is not responsible for any of the build out. The BBC also said that affordability of broadband, that is the cost to households of purchasing contracts, was an issue.18 Shortly after our session with the BBC we took evidence from the Department on a range of matters, including progress with gigabit broadband roll-out. It acknowledged that the roll-out is critical to the BBC’s plans for an internet-only future, that discussions were already in train and it will expect to have further discussions on it as part of the charter renewal. We will continue to keep a close eye on progress, in particular for providing people living in harder to reach areas with decent broadband coverage.19 Funding the digital strategy
12BBC's funding gap significantly increased to nearly £400 million by inflation.
Concluded (the committee's words)
Following its January 2022 licence fee settlement with government, the BBC estimated that it would have a funding gap of £285 million a year by 2027–28, and that it needs to deliver £500 million of annual savings and reinvestment to achieve its digital- first ambitions. This funding gap was calculated on the basis of the licence fee being held flat in 2022–23 and 2023–24 with no links to inflation, followed by four years linked to inflation.20 The BBC told us that with inflation the funding gap had now risen from £285 million to nearly £400 million, on top of its funding having reduced in real-terms by 30% over the last 10 years.21
13BBC's product development spending increasing, with significant investment planned for digital transformation.
Concluded (the committee's words)
The BBC’s spending on its product development has also declined, from £109 million in 2018–19 to £98 million in 2021–22 (in 2021–22 prices). However, due to the renewed focus on the growth of its digital products, the BBC has budgeted £116 million to spend within its product group in 2022–23 (in 2021–22 prices). This includes an extra £10 million announced as part of its digital-first plans through to 2025. After this, the BBC expects to invest up to an additional £50 million a year into transforming its use of data, personalisation and user experience.22
14BBC's digital product development spending significantly lower than rival media organisations.
Concluded (the committee's words)
The BBC’s spending on digital product development is far lower than many other media organisations, many of which are digital-only, though direct spending comparisons are problematic. Additionally, the BBC has a range of universal service obligations that other media firms do not, and provides a range of services that its digital-only competitors 15 Q 45 16 Q 29 17 Q 24 18 Qq 29, 30 19 Public Accounts Committee, Oral evidence: DCMS Recall: Broadband, Gambling and Unboxed, HC 1052. Monday 23 January 2023 20 C&AG’s Report, para 2.2 21 Qq 6, 51 22 Q 37; C&AG’s Report, para 2.4 BBC Digital 11 do not, such as local radio and educational programming. Nevertheless, the BBC is seeking to attract the same audiences as other media providers and has significantly lower funding for developing its digital products. The BBC estimates that its technology product development spending is equivalent to 2.8% of its revenue, whereas its competitors typically spend around 8%–11%. In 2021, for example, Netflix spent £1.7 billion on technology and development. The BBC has therefore not been able to develop its product portfolio with the same pace and sophistication as that of rival media organisations.23
15BBC announced £500 million digital-first investment plan funded through savings and commercial income.
Concluded (the committee's words)
In May 2022, the BBC announced a £500 million investment plan, in support of its digital-first ambitions. The BBC plans for this to come from £200 million a year in spending reductions as well as £300 million a year from redistributing money within the organisation and increased commercial income.24
16BBC acknowledges £500 million digital investment plan might be insufficient, requiring difficult decisions.
Concluded (the committee's words)
We asked whether the BBC considered £500 million would be enough for its investment plan. The BBC said that pressure on the £500 million had increased and it would have to “box very clever”.25 It said it had already taken some tough decisions, it would have to focus, and stop things that are less effective. For example, it was making 12,000 hours of content now compared to 13,000 a few years ago.26 But the BBC acknowledged that “we do not know if it is enough” and that it would be “incredibly difficult”. The BBC commented that it would have to find ways of attracting more capital from its commercial arm, and also agreed that it did not want to find savings by doing things that would be acts of self- harm, such as closing lots of radio stations. The BBC also said that the strategic technology review had enabled it to pull departments together, realising economies of scale and also improving performance.27
17BBC needs more capital for technology investment but rules out subscription services for funding.
Concluded (the committee's words)
On financial plans, the BBC also said it thought it would have to find ways of attracting more capital into its technology investment.28 But it made clear that there is no plan in the UK to add subscription services, as people have already paid the licence fee.29
18BBC's digital investment plan lacks sufficient detail on savings and financial contingencies.
Concluded (the committee's words)
We raised a concern about the lack of sufficient detail to support the BBC’s digital investment plan, for example around how savings will be achieved, what happens if savings targets are not met, or whether additional borrowing would be required.30 The BBC said it was helpful to have had those points highlighted. It told us that it was working through the budgeting process and building detailed budget plans, and that the budget process it was currently in would refine the detail.31 The BBC also highlighted that it did not have the same ability as its commercial competitors to raise debt to fund its digital ambitions. On the other hand, it did have the security and stability of the licence fee, at least to the end of the charter period.32 23 C&AG’s Report, paras 10, 2.5 24 C&AG’s Report, para 2.6 25 Q 51 26 Qq 37, 51, 52 27 Qq 52, 53 28 Q 38 29 Qq 41, 42 30 Q 55; C&AG’s Report, paras 11, 20 31 Qq 43, 55 32 Q 55 12 BBC Digital 2 People and data Staff recruitment and retention
19BBC faces a shortage of specialist digital staff due to lower comparative pay levels.
Concluded (the committee's words)
Although the BBC has managed to successfully recruit and retain a number of highly skilled individuals to lead its digital teams, overall it has a shortage of specialist digital staff. In common with other organisations, the BBC has experienced technology staffing shortages and high turnover of staff. This is partly due to the BBC’s pay levels being lower than some other potential employers for technology professionals. This is despite the BBC keeping its pay ranges under regular review, including by benchmarking these against wider industry pay levels.33 The BBC told us that it had increased the pay ranges for some of its digital jobs by more than the standard pay rise agreed last year for the majority of its employees.34
20High staff turnover in BBC's digital product group is hindering technical development.
Concluded (the committee's words)
The product group in the BBC—responsible for developing and delivering the BBC’s audience-facing digital products—accounts for 5.7% of the total BBC public service pay bill.35 In its product group the BBC had 23% staff turnover as of June 2022. This high number of vacancies has slowed technical development. The number of vacancies in the search team, for example, has hindered the BBC’s ability to develop its search function further.36
21BBC faces ongoing challenges attracting and retaining skilled technology staff in a competitive market.
Concluded (the committee's words)
The BBC told us that last year had been really difficult for attracting people. It cited the particular consequences of the covid pandemic for the technology market, with international organisations starting to offer remote working contracts, giving potential employees, for example in the Salford area, more options, with salaries rising fast, and recruitment happening at a faster pace. The BBC said it was in a much better position this year compared to last, with attrition trending down and recruitment having sped up and grown. Nevertheless, it acknowledged it was a real fight to get enough of the right people with the right skills.37
22BBC aims to attract brilliant talent at discounted rates through its public service mission.
Concluded (the committee's words)
The BBC considered there may be an increasing sense developing of people wanting to ‘reconnect with purpose’ and of that being a material consideration for people when choosing who they wished to work for; implying that the BBC could benefit from that sort of preference.38 The BBC stressed how it can offer something unique for people in terms of what they could do with their career, the range of products, and the appeal of working for an organisation with the BBC’s public service mission and purpose.39 It noted how the BBC does not have a competitor producing the same breadth and type of content.40 It also said it needed to make sure that the BBC is not seen as a bureaucratic place to come and work.41 However, and in the context of discussing how stretched the overall budget for digital investment will be, the BBC also acknowledged that “We are going to need to attract brilliant people at a massive discount to the market.”42 33 C&AG’s Report, para 2.11 34 Q 87 35 Letter dated 25 January 2023 from Tim Davie, BBC Director General, to PAC Chair; C&AG’s Report, para 6 36 C&AG’s Report, para 2.11 37 Qq 84, 98 38 Q 98 39 Qq 84, 85 40 Q 58 41 Q 98 42 Q 37 BBC Digital 13 Personalised services
23BBC making progress towards sign-in targets for enhanced personalised digital user experiences.
Concluded (the committee's words)
Over the past nine years, the BBC has signalled that it sees offering a more personalised experience as important to its future plans and key to this is sign-in, whereby users register for and use a BBC account to access digital services. In September 2021, it produced a sign-in strategy, with a target for 72% of digital product views to come from signed-in users by 2023. It also has an overall goal of having 20.2 million weekly average signed-in users by 2022, growing to 23.5 million users by 2023. BBC Online’s signed-in accounts increased from 14.6 million on average per week in 2019–20 to 18.1 million in 2021–22. This continued to grow and reached 19.6 million signed-in accounts in June 2022.43
24BBC lacks a comprehensive, organisation-wide strategy for personalising digital user experiences.
Concluded (the committee's words)
Through sign-in, the BBC can collect personal information about its users to understand their preferences. When used alongside recommendation algorithms, this should provide a user experience tailored to their individual preferences. The BBC does not believe that it is possible to compete digitally without knowing users’ viewing habits. However, while the BBC has started to develop plans for how it could personalise some of its individual digital products and services such as iPlayer, it has yet to show that it has begun work on pulling together a comprehensive strategy for personalisation across the organisation.44
25BBC uses a combined approach of human curation and algorithms for content recommendations.
Concluded (the committee's words)
The BBC told us that it tried to make the sign-up process as simple as possible, while at the same time giving the user control, and was very conscious of accessibility and different digital familiarity levels.45 The BBC described to us how it was vital to help users find what they were looking for as easily as possible, and that it used data to match users to content and so tried to provide the best kind of shortcut connection.46 It said there was a mix of how it made recommendations to users; with human-selected and curated stories and also algorithmically recommended content.47
26BBC aims to develop unique recommendation algorithms reflecting its public service values.
Concluded (the committee's words)
The BBC also told us that it needed to build something different to a commercial algorithm, saying that there are many commercial models that lead you to where you do not want to be. Whereas, the BBC also has its public service values, and wants to educate and entertain. “We are going to have to get a very careful balance, and this is a very interesting challenge. It is different … and no one in the world has done it, by the way.”48 Data security
27BBC's increased use of personal data for personalisation poses reputational risks.
Concluded (the committee's words)
To build a more personalised experience for its users, the BBC will need to increase its use of their personal data. The BBC plans to use these data to support commissioning decisions and to make tailored content recommendations, and needs to meet best practice and transparency in data-handling. There is potential for reputational damage if the BBC does not meet best practice in acquiring, storing and securing personal data, and being transparent about its use. In 2019, a BBC-commissioned report found it was only in the early stages of maturity in compliance with data protection legislation in its use of 43 C&AG’s Report, paras 8, 1.14 44 C&AG’s Report, paras 8, 1.14 45 Q 75 46 Q 59 47 Q 63 48 Q 62 14 BBC Digital audience data. The BBC has since improved its approach to users’ data and data protection, including appointing a data protection officer and creating a central Data Protection Office team in 2019.49
28BBC affirms no plans to commercialise or sell user data, despite future increased collection.
Concluded (the committee's words)
The BBC told us it had no plans to commercialise the data it holds on viewers, assuring us categorically that it had no plans to use or sell UK subscriber data to any other party for commercial purposes. It said that it collected the least amount of personal data that it could on sign-up, and that it did then collect data at an aggregated level and on an anonymised basis as people used products, so that it could see what was being used and to what extent. But that it does not share or sell that data or have any plans to.50 The BBC acknowledged that it would be collecting a lot more information from a lot more people as it expanded its digital output.51
29BBC planning documents lack explicit strategy for managing reputational risks from increased data use.
Concluded (the committee's words)
The BBC welcomed the recommendations made by the NAO which included on managing potential data risk and said it was taking action on oversight and policy. It outlined some actions taken in recent years to improve its approach, stressed that these things were key parts of the organisation, and that development of governance in this respect was crucial to make sure the BBC did not breach its data regulations.52 While it would inevitably be collecting more data in future, the BBC felt the framework it had in place meant it was in a good position to mitigate any risk.53 However, in reviewing BBC planning documents on using customer data the NAO found no references to its approach to the management and mitigation of reputational and other potential risks that could arise as it increases its use of such data.54
30BBC reports 27 data breaches since April 2020 with no ICO enforcement action.
Concluded (the committee's words)
The BBC told us it has had no data breaches that it has had to report to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) this financial year. It has reported 27 data breaches since April 2020 and told us that the ICO had not taken any enforcement action against the BBC in relation to any of those cases. The BBC assured us that it monitors and manages all data incidents very carefully and that it raises incidents when it needs to.55 49 C&AG’s Report, para 17 50 Qq 72, 74 51 Q 91 52 Q 91 53 Q 92 54 C&AG’s Report, para 17 55 Qq 93–95; Letter dated 13 January from Leigh Tavaziva, BBC Group Chief Operating Officer, to PAC Chair BBC Digital 15
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1
- 12 Jan 2023BBC Digital3 witnesses, listed belowparliament.uk ↗
Who gave evidence 3 witnesses
- Leigh TavazivaChief Operating Officer, BBC
- Storm FaganChief Product Officer, BBC
- Tim Davie CBEDirector General, BBC