Lord Puttnam: Chariots of Fire producer to launch own inquiry into the future of public service broadcasting

Lord Puttnam’s commission will be seen as challenge to Culture Secretary

Lord Puttnam said the case for a ‘fully independent’ inquiry was overwhelming (Getty)

The film producer Lord Puttnam, who opposes government proposals to reduce the size and scope of the BBC, is to chair his own alternative inquiry into the future of public service television.

Backed by Bafta – the British Academy of Film and Television Arts – Lord Puttnam, whose credits include the Oscar-winning Chariots of Fire and The Killing Fields, will probe the “nature, purpose and role of public service television today and into the future.”

Based at the media and communications department at Goldsmiths, University of London, his panel, which promises to include leading voices from the arts and TV industry, will stage a series of evidence-gathering events from next month. As well as Bafta, partners supporting the inquiry include Vice Media, the Hansard Society and the British Academy.

John Whittingdale, the Culture Secretary, has questioned whether the BBC, which faces a 10 per cent real-terms budget cut, should buy imported entertainment formats and is considering whether a household levy should replace the licence fee.

The commission led by Lord Puttnam, who recently said the BBC and Channel 4 faced huge challenges from “political zealots – noticeably, but not exclusively, from those on the right”, could signal a fightback by those in the creative industries opposed to Tory proposals to shake up the media landscape, which now include examining the case for privatising Channel 4. The Puttnam inquiry is likely to be seen as a rival body to an eight-person advisory committee – including Dawn Airey, former boss of Channel 5, and Dame Colette Bowe, former chairwoman of Ofcom – appointed by Mr Whittingdale to guide his conclusions on the renewal of the BBC’s Royal Charter.

Lord Puttnam said the case for a “fully independent” inquiry was overwhelming. His commission will start from the premise that “public service channels continue to command some two thirds of viewing audiences and far outspend their non-PSB rivals on original content. Yet, real-terms investment in public service output is declining across all genres – not least because of substantial cuts to the BBC’s budget in recent years.”

It will “address ways in which public service content can be most effectively nurtured taking into consideration a growing range of services, platforms and funding models, continuous technological development and audience fragmentation particularly amongst younger and diverse audiences.”

Lord Puttnam’s inquiry will sit until June next year, when proposals for the next BBC Royal Charter are finalised. He said: “We need to consider both the challenges and opportunities for public service television in the digital age.

“Public service broadcasters remain at the heart of our broadcast landscape in the UK but we are seeing a worrying fall in investment in key areas such as arts, news and drama as well as the tendency for younger audiences to migrate to new digital platforms.”