Latest Phase Of BBC Charter Review Comes To An End
159/04 A major stage of BBC Charter Review will draw to a close this week when the independent panel, appointed by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell to advise her on Charter Review, and guests meet to debate how the Corporation might be run and regulated in the future.
The meeting is the last in the current series of "informed seminars" in which key issues have been debated in front of an invited audience and broadcast over the web.
The findings of the seminars, which have followed a major public consultation launched by Tessa Jowell in December 2003, will feed into a Green Paper due to be published early next year.
The independent panel has today published a paper for its final seminar, which summarises the wider themes of the debate so far. These include clarity of the BBC's public purposes and remit, and how the BBC is funded. The paper brings these themes together to debate their implications for three broad models of governance and regulation that will be debated on Friday 3 December.
Terry Burns, Chair of the independent panel, said:
"The BBC is valued very highly by its audience. This has been a consistent message throughout the past year's debate.
"We have debated a range of issues in our public seminars, and have found that there is widespread agreement that we need an appropriate system of governance and regulation for the future. During our final seminar on Friday 3 December, we hope to move the debate forward. In our paper, we have set out a range of options along with some of the advantages and disadvantages of each option as a basis for discussion at the seminar."
Tessa Jowell said:
"Terry and his panel are to be commended for their tireless work in helping to define the key themes as we work towards a Green Paper. The paper the panel has published today provides an illuminating summary of the debate so far. I look forward to hearing the outcome of Friday's discussions on governance and regulation."
Terry Burns has worked with the independent panel to ensure that the process of Charter Review continues to be run in the public interest with integrity and objectivity, while helping to marshal and formulate the emerging options.
The Green Paper, which will set out initial options for the future of the BBC, will be followed by a White Paper, which will firm up these options.
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Notes to editors
1. The independent panel's paper can be accessed at http://www.bbccharterreview.org.uk/
2. The first section is a summary of the main themes.
3. There are three main models that will be considered during the panel's final seminar: reformed internal regulation - the "Building Public Value" model recently set out by BBC Chairman Michael Grade; external regulation by either Ofcom or a newly formed "Ofbeeb"; or a hybrid of the two - an "Inbeeb".
4. The BBC's current charter expires at the end of 2006.
5. The BBC's Royal Charter is a formal document granted under the Royal prerogative, establishing the BBC and defining its general objectives and functions. It is supported by the Agreement between the BBC and the Government, which sets out how the BBC will meet its general obligations, the services it will provide, and the standards, it will meet. The current charter and agreement can be accessed at http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/policies/charter/
6. The first Charter Review was in 1927. Since then reviews have been carried out about every 10 years. The current Royal Charter is the seventh in the history of the BBC.
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