Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Accepted
Align external and internal reporting on Across the UK programme progress to improve transparency.
Conclusion
The BBC’s reporting of Across the UK does not provide Parliament nor the public with a complete picture of progress with the programme, and risks causing confusion. The BBC considered its internal governance of programmes to be tight and specific, but in its public communication of its progress with Across the UK it sets out its ambitions and how it meets its public purposes more broadly. The BBC told us it considered the relocation of its Birmingham premises from The Mailbox to Digbeth as a separate project from Across the UK yet it included its benefits as part of Across the UK in its 2022–23 Annual Report and Accounts. The BBC stands by its presentation of activity in this way. We are concerned that the BBC is claiming benefits for Across the UK publicly when it is favourable for it to do so for activities that are not part of the programme, compared with dissociating other activities from the programme when they could be seen as a bad news story, such as cuts to local radio. Recommendation 4: To improve transparency, in future public reporting on Across the UK, including its next Annual Report and Accounts, the BBC should align its reporting of progress on implementation so that its external and internal reporting on Across the UK are consistent with each other.
Government Response Summary
The BBC has already implemented the recommendation by making changes to its 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts, including clearly labelling Across the UK Programme content and separating it from other activities, and adding new performance data.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The BBC agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented The BBC has reflected on the comments of the former Committee and have made further changes in approach to the BBC Annual Report and Accounts for Financial Year 2023- 24. First, the BBC has aimed to clearly label narrative and statistics that relate to the Across the UK Programme and separate these from other pan-UK activity. This is evidenced on pages 32 and 33 of the latest BBC Annual Report and Accounts (ARA). Second, the BBC has included additional performance data in the 23/24 ARA for the first time - detailing the reach and estimated contribution to consumption of BBC Nations and regions content in the different nations of the UK. As part of this recommendation, the Committee commented on the BBC’s ‘cuts to local radio’. To clarify, although BBC Local plans in England to reprioritise some local investment from radio to online formed part of the original ATUK announcement in March 2021, these were removed from the programme business case and baseline which was approved in October 2021.