Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 5
5
The National Audit Office report noted that for claims received after March 2020 (the only...
Conclusion
The National Audit Office report noted that for claims received after March 2020 (the only data for which the Department had detailed process data) only 10% (102 claims) had reached payment approval stage. These 102 claims took on average 177 days to reach payment approval, with half of the cases requiring between 109 and 250 days. These figures excluded older cases which may have taken longer.10 The Department explained that cases often took significant amounts of time because of the need to obtain supporting 1 C&AG’s Report, Investigation into the Windrush Compensation Scheme, Session 2021–21, HC 65, 21 May 2021 2 C&AG’s Report, para 1 3 C&AG’s Report, para 1 4 C&AG’s Report, para 2 5 C&AG’s Report, para 4.2 6 Q27, 29 7 Windrush Compensation Scheme data: May 2021 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), accessed 29 June 2021 8 Qq 27–28, 36–37 9 Q 29 10 C&AG’s Report, para 4.9 8 Windrush Compensation Scheme information from other government departments but recognised it took a long time to ‘get going’ on claims.11 In April 2021, the Department announced that 21 people had died after submitting a claim but before receiving compensation.12 We questioned, therefore, whether there had been sufficient urgency to make changes given that people were dying while waiting for the completion of their claims.13
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
1. The BBC appears complacent about the threat it faces from declining audiences. Each year people spend less time watching BBC TV and 200,000 more households choose to opt out of paying for the licence fee. Yet when pressed, the BBC seem unconcerned by the decline, maintaining that overall the number of users it reaches is high compared to other broadcasters. Nor was the BBC able to demonstrate to us a clear understanding of why increasing numbers of households are forgoing the TV licence. The BBC recognises that the rapid shift to online media and changes in consumer habits during the pandemic has seen people discover more choice elsewhere. However, it does not appear to have a sufficiently detailed plan for how to address this; it was, for example, unable to articulate why bringing BBC Three back to terrestrial TV would help stop viewers moving away. Addressing audience decline and better understanding the value it can bring is critical to the BBC’s financial health: as the BBC’s own research has shown, people are less likely to pay the licence fee if they do not view licensable content. We would like to reiterate to the Committee that there is no complacency at the BBC. We have taken great pains to stress that we recognise the jeopardy for the BBC is high. We have also explained very clearly how the challenges we face are directly driving our strategy to deliver more value to all audiences. In relation to households choosing not to pay the licence fee, we would like to draw the Committee’s attention to the Director-General’s answers that highlight we are monitoring this closely1, given the licence fee represents the majority of our income. While there can be reductions in numbers of households paying for a licence, there is also forecast growth in the overall number of households. We would also like to highlight that the BBC has a coherent strategic plan on how to face the challenges posed by a shift to online media and the changes to consumer habits. We are acutely aware of the shifts in the market and ensuring that we serve all audiences in this more competitive landscape is central to the BBC’s decision-making. We are grateful to have the opportunity to articulate this again to the Committee, and draw the Committee’s attention again to the findings of the NAO report that for example credited how the BBC has “introduced new initiatives to capitalise on the opportunities offered by this new marketplace, including BBC Sounds and improvements to the iPlayer service”. This includes the expansion of online TV services, making content available on iPlayer for 12 months instead of 30 days, and the Britbox partnership with ITV. We detailed the key planks of our strategy to the Committee, including focusing the power of our big brand content to reach underserved audiences, growing BBC Sounds and making iPlayer a destination in its own right. This approach is working. More than 900,000 16-34 year-olds used BBC Sounds for the first time in the last six months. iPlayer has set new records in the past year, with 6.1bn requests to stream programmes in 2020/21 - up 28% on the year before. Our evidence also highlighted how rapid growth in iPlayer co