Recommendation 21

We asked the BBC what precisely it would measure as part of its evaluation. It told us that it had developed frameworks for measuring two key criteria for the evaluation – the audiences framework and the economic framework. It explained that as part of the economic framework it had developed a baseline against which it would be measuring its local gross value added.34 We asked the BBC why it was developing two separate evaluation strands to assess its main, intended impacts (audience perception and economic growth) rather than bringing them together. The BBC told us that the two plans sat under the programme director, but otherwise did not explain how they formed an overall framework for evaluating Across the UK.35 In written evidence provided after the session, the BBC said its baseline year for all evaluation measures was the financial year 2019–20.36 The BBC acknowledged it would need to collect better data to understand the later stages of the programme and its impacts in the regions.37