Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 9
72nd Report - BBC World Service
Published 13 Mar 2026
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee BBC World Service 2024-25 All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
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
From: Public Accounts Committee, 72nd Report - BBC World Service (HC 1299), 13 March 2026
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 1 June 2026 (deadline 13 May 2026).