BBC Critical Projects inquiry
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“Projects are an important part of achieving the BBC's strategic vision. The BBC has grouped what it considers to be its most strategically important, complex and high risk projects into a portfolio of 'critical projects'. The National Audit Office (NAO) is currently conducting a study which examines the effectiveness of the BBC's arrangements for overseeing these critical projects, including the changes to oversight and reporting that it made following the failure of its Digital Media Initiative (DMI) project. The Digital Media Initiative In 2014, the Public Accounts Committee published its 52nd Report on the BBC's Digital Media Initiative . The Digital Media Initiative was a transformation programme that involved developing new technology for BBC staff to create, share and manage video and audio content and programmes from their desktops. The BBC initially contracted Siemens to build the DMI system. However, the contract was terminated by mutual agreement with effect from July 2009 and the BBC brought the DMI in-house in September 2009. In February 2011, based on a National Audit Office report, the Public Accounts Committee took evidence from the BBC on its progress with the in-house development of the Programme. The PAC report in 2011 reflected the assurances the BBC had given the Committee about it being on track to complete the system in 2011 with no further delays. However, the BBC then failed to complete the DMI Programme and in May 2013 cancelled it at a cost to licence fee payers of £98.4 million. The Committee of Public Accounts considered that the BBC was far too complacent about the DMI's troubled history and the very high risks involved in taking it in-house. The DMI was 18 months behind schedule when the BBC took it in-house from Siemens. Poor governance meant that these important weaknesses went unchallenged, even when things started to go badly wrong.”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What it found
The BBC has strengthened its oversight of and reporting on critical projects since it cancelled its Digital Media Initiative project in 2013 at a cost to licence fee payers of nearly £100 million. By and large, the BBC is subjecting its critical projects to more effective scrutiny, underpinned by more frequent and timely reporting to the Executive and the BBC Trust. There is, however, more work for the BBC to do: to be clear at an early stage about what projects will contribute to improved services for viewers and listeners; to encourage openness and transparency when problems arise; and to ensure there is no scope for confusion over who is accountable for delivering each project.
What the government said
No government response is linked to this report.
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 28 April 2016 to its close on 4 January 2018.
- Oral evidence 25 May 2016
- Report 8 Jul 2016
What it recommended
The committee's recommendations are not listed here yet. Read them in 8th Report - BBC critical projects ↗ on parliament.uk.
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1
- 25 May 2016No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗