Recommendation 5

The BBC’s plans for evaluating Across the UK are incomplete and it does not have in place an overall approach for assessing impact. To assess Across the UK, the BBC planned to measure changes to audience perception as well as additional economic benefits such as jobs created. However, it lacked a comprehensive framework that pulled together its different measures to give the overall picture of the programme’s impact. At this stage of the programme, we would have expected the BBC to already have a benefits management strategy and plan in place. Despite starting the programme in 2021, the BBC did not expect to develop its evaluation plan until the second phase of the programme and would not evaluate until 2025. This will be too late for it to understand the impact the programme is having, to make any changes it may need to make, and to realise the benefits from any changes. The BBC has not articulated what success will look like, nor does it have standardised measures of success for its regional hubs in terms of local impact and generating economic growth. The BBC spoke of the recent publication of an evaluation of Doctor Who’s economic impact in Wales following its re-launch in The BBC’s implementation of Across the UK 7 2005 in Cardiff. That was not part of Across the UK, but the BBC would not commit to undertaking comparable evaluations of economic impact for the regional hubs where Across the UK is focused. Recommendation 5: The BBC should urgently set out a framework that brings together how it will consistently measure all of the tangible, beneficial impacts of Across the UK for audiences and in generating local economic growth.