Category:
Wales; BBC
Date: 29.06.2004
Printable version
The biggest shift of investment out of London and into
the Nations and Regions in the BBC's history was announced today by
the BBC's new Chairman Michael Grade and Director-General Mark Thompson.
At its heart is a clear commitment to continue the devolution
of the BBC to the nations, regions and communities of the UK.
As its title Building Public Value suggests, the document
sets out a vision for the BBC of the future founded on the creation
of "public value" based on the principles of universality,
fairness and accountability.
It calls for "a BBC which reflects the whole UK
in its output and which significantly shifts its broadcasting, production
and other operations out of London and into the rest of the UK."
There are three specific new commitments to the Nations
and Regions of the UK:
Firstly, the BBC pledges to increase its total expenditure in the Nations
and Regions to more than £1bn during the next ten year Charter period
(ie 2007 to 2016) - an increase of around 35% on the present total.
Secondly, the BBC pledges to increase the number of its public service
staff based outside London from the present figure of 42% to at least
50% over the same ten year period.
Thirdly, it pledges to devolve around a fifth of all BBC network programme
commissioning out of London - in a radical shift from the present situation,
where virtually no network commissioning happens outside London.
Central to these pledges is a strategy to increase
the localness of BBC services across the whole UK and the proportion
of network programmes made in different parts of the country.
Included are commitments to:
Strengthen core services and create new local services within Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland on television, radio and online and extend
the opportunities for national cultural expression, especially in mainstream
programme forms.
Create highly local digital television news services in up to 60 areas
across the UK, available throughout the day and on demand - making TV
news as local as radio and meeting the growing demand for more local
news and information.
Offer all BBC national and local radio services on digital platforms,
and develop the BBC Where I Live websites to enhance their distinctiveness
and so that they become truly local.
Reinforce the BBC's commitment to the UK's indigenous languages, including
Welsh, Gaelic and Irish, and help future generations to learn them by
providing learning resources across all media platforms.
Continue to invest in comprehensive coverage of the National Assembly
for Wales and the UK's other devolved institutions.
Extend the network of BBC Community Studios and BBC Buses where partnerships
allow and audience need is greatest, to raise awareness of information
technology and enable people to take part in our programmes.
Stimulate the creativity of audiences, by creating more opportunities
for them to tell their own stories and contribute to local BBC projects
like Digital Storytelling (pioneered by BBC Wales), Voices, Video Nation
and Local TV.
Increase the BBC's spending on network programme making outside London,
by building on the increased profile and volume of production from Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland; by developing the BBC's three main regional
production centres in England, especially Manchester; and by increasing
the contribution of the independent sector outside London.
Explore the potential for moving professional and support staff out
of London as part of a continuing drive to reduce BBC overheads.
The BBC's new Director-General, Mark Thompson, said
today: "The BBC is still far too London-based and this is simply
not acceptable for a modern public service broadcaster that draws its
income from all parts of the UK.
"The BBC should reflect the
whole UK. One of the best ways of ensuring that it does is to base it
across the whole UK, close to audiences and talent in all the nations
and regions.
"Over the period of the next Charter, there will
be a significant shift of money, commissioning power, production and
people out of London and into the rest of the UK.
"Licence payers everywhere will benefit from a
BBC that is far more active in the area where they live and creates
more programmes and services that are directly relevant to their lives
and interests."
Welcoming the promise of further investment by the
BBC in Wales, Menna Richards, Controller of BBC Wales, said: "This
is a vision of a BBC determined to expand its local services in Wales
and all parts of the UK and increase the value it brings into people's
lives everywhere.
"These proposals also give
us the strongest possible platform to increase BBC Wales's network production
for the whole of the UK on the back of successes such as This Land,
Hidden Gardens and Painting the Weather and the confidence shown in
BBC Wales's drama department with productions like Doctor Who.
"We will also continue to
build our strategic partnership with S4C.
"These are challenges we will address with confidence,
with energy and with imagination."
Notes to Editors
The BBC's combined current expenditure on local and regional programming
across the UK, and on network production outside the M25, is approximately
£750m.
An increase of 35% - equivalent to just over £250m -
will take this figure above £1bn.
42% of the BBC's public service staff (ie excluding staff who work for
the BBC's commercial subsidiaries or the World Service) currently work
outside the M25.
Based on these current staffing levels, a shift of around
1,700 from London to the rest of the country will be required to reach
the new target of 50%.
Moving one-fifth of all BBC network programme commissions out of London
is equivalent to around £400m at today's prices.
