Recommendation 9

In February 2025, the BBC announced its move to a new international governance model and we asked the BBC about progress with its new international structure. The BBC told us that only one of six regional director roles was permanently filled at the time of our evidence session, with recruitment under way for the others; it described early benefits in ideas flow and accountability but said it was early days for measurable effects.17 On BBC Arabic, given concerns about impartiality and trust, the BBC told us that is had tightened oversight, including appointing a regional director for the Middle East, creating a unified Head of Service for Arabic across TV, radio and digital, recruiting an Arabic speaking Head of Editorial Standards and Quality, rolling out new training, and overhauling specific formats, such as the newspaper review.18 13 Q 14 14 C&AG’s Report, paras 12, 2.20-2.22 15 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.9-2.10 16 Qq 16, 51 17 Q 51; C&AG’s Report, para 10 18 Q 47 9 Measuring value for money