Consumers and the industry have until 5 July to let the Government know what they think of the BBC's plans. 
 
An executive summary of the BBC's application is attached to this press notice. 

Notes for Editors

 

1. The complete application is available on the departmental website in the creative, media and the arts sub-site along with the full results of the BBC's public service consultation exercise and an independent analysis of the likely market impact of the BBC's proposal by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

2. In line with the BBC Charter and Agreement, the BBC seeks the Secretary of State's approval to launch a new service.    In accordance with the BBC public service approvals guidelines, the Secretary of State publishes details of the request and invites written representations from broadcasting and communications industry, regulators and consumer groups. The BBC has undertaken it's own separate public consultation. The BBC public services approvals guidelines can be found on the departmental website.  The consultation period closes on 5 July 2002, after which the Secretary of State will consider responses and make a decision in due course.

 

 

The Government, educational bodies and media and software companies have all recognised that Information and Communication Technologies have the capacity to transform teaching and raise educational standards. A clear demand for interactive learning tools has been amply demonstrated.

 

The Government has supported the emergence and wider use of a broad range of interactive educational materials and services, from a variety of providers, through the Curriculum Online initiative which was endorsed by the Prime Minister in December 2001.

 

As a public service organisation which has had an educational mission at its heart since the 1920s and which has an unparalleled record in the provision of media resources for schools, the BBC has a key role to play alongside others in bringing the potential benefits of these developments to fruition.

 

The BBC is therefore proposing to make a major investment in a new Digital Curriculum. This would be a pedagogically valuable service, designed to be attractive to teachers, students and individual learners. It would provide a coherent learning environment, harnessing the power of interactivity and a wide range of media to offer users exciting new ways in which to learn. It would be freely available to all, via the internet.

 

The proposed service would be distinctive in terms of the spread, range and mix of its content. It should sit within the Government's Curriculum Online initiative, complementing materials offered by other providers. Through its investment of licence fee funding and by contracting out half of its content production, the BBC would stimulate the wider marketplace and help grow both demand and supply.

Following extensive consultation and discussions, the BBC believes the time is now right to seek the Secretary of State's approval for this new public service.