BBC reforms: Is the new Royal Charter ‘ideologically driven meddling’ or ‘a clear pathway for the future’?

Culture Secretary accused of being ‘forced to back down on some of his wilder proposals’ and faces calls to let the corporation ‘get on with the job’

The Government has been accused of putting a “ticking time bomb under the BBC” after ministers stepped back from fundamental reform but gave the corporation just five years free from political interference.

Under the terms of a new 11-year Royal Charter outlined in the House of Commons, there will be no change to the license fee or remit of BBC in the short term.

But ministers have inserted a five year ‘break clause’ in the Charter which could allow a future Conservative Government to re-open negotiations with the corporation after the next general election.

The Culture Secretary, John Whittingdale, said that in the long run the licence fee was “likely to become less sustainable” and would have to be overhauled entirely.

Lord Waheed Alli, the former television executive who launched a campaign group to fight plans to diminish the BBC, said it was clear that Mr Whittingdale had “been forced to back down on some of his wilder proposals,” but had shown himself to be “ideologically committed to undermining the BBC”.

“While this (Charter) may not destroy public service broadcasting immediately, it is only right to warn how this can do real and lasting damage the long term,” he said.

“This is a ticking time bomb under the BBC.”

Labour’s shadow Culture Secretary, Maria Eagle, said that most of Mr Whittingdale's “wilder proposals” had been “watered down, dumped or delayed”. She called on him to “stop his ideologically driven meddling and let them get on with the job.“

“The BBC already works well with other UK creative industries, with other broadcasters to the benefit of all and (Mr Whittingdale) might be better advised to keep his nose out of this rather than to try and tell them how to do the job that they do on a day-to-day basis.”

Under the plans for the new charter:

• No one will be able to legally watch BBC programmes online without buying a TV licence to stop viewers using a legal loophole to watch programmes for free.
• The BBC will be under a new obligation to provide “distinctive content” rather than just chase ratings. This could affect the corporation’s ability to buy in hit shows from abroad like The Voice.
• The corporation will have a new obligation to promote diversity with 15 per cent of lead roles going to black and ethnic minority actors by 2020 and 50 per cent of lead roles going to women.
• Outside production companies will be able to bid to produce all BBC content for the first time - outside the protected areas of news and current affairs programmes.
• The salaries of all stars paid over £450,000 will have to be published – while the BBC’s finances will for the first time be audited by the National Audit Office.
• Under the deal with the Government the BBC will also fund 150 local journalists to cover local courts and council meetings and providing content to local newspapers and websites.

Mr Whittingdale also granted ministers the power to appoint six members of the corporation’s new governing board, which will replace the BBC Trust, which is to be scrapped at the end of the year.

The BBC will have the right to nominate up to eight members of the body. The BBC can therefore ensure it holds the balance of votes, but executives at the corporation believe that doing so would create a board that would become too large and unwieldy.

Lord Hall, the director-general, said: “We have an honest disagreement with the Government on this. I do not believe that the appointments proposals for the new unitary board are yet right. We will continue to make the case to government. It is vital for the future of the BBC that its independence is fully preserved.”

Unveiling details of the new Charter, Mr Whittingdale told MPs that the BBC “is and must always remain at the very heart of British life”.

“We want the BBC to thrive, to make fantastic programmes for audiences and to act as an engine for growth and creativity,” he said.

“Our reforms give the BBC much greater independence from Government in editorial matters, in its governance, in setting budgets and through a longer charter period.

“They secure the funding of the BBC and will help it develop new funding models for the future.

“At the same time, these reforms will assist the BBC to fulfil its own stated desire to become more distinctive and to better reflect the diverse nature of its audience.”

The Conservative MP Roger Gale, himself a former BBC producer, said the White Paper “gives the lie to the hysteria and gloom peddled by many commentators and politicians, a clear pathway for the future of an editorially independent but accountable public broadcasting service.”

But Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance said the Government had “ducked the opportunity for substantial reform of the regressive and arcane TV licence fee”.

“With the technology now in place for people to subscribe to their choice of thousands of competing channels and watch them wherever they happen to be, the time has surely come to explore a new, fairer funding model fit for the 21st century,” he said.

Meanwhile Sir Michael Lyons, a former chair of the BBC Trust, claimed that political pressure was making the BBC biased against Labour and Jeremy Corbyn.

“I don’t think I’m alone in feeling that the BBC has sought to hedge its bets of late,” he said.

“There have been some quite extraordinary attacks on the elected leader of the Labour Party, quite extraordinary. I can understand why people are worried about whether some of the most senior editorial voices in the BBC have lost their impartiality on this.”

He then added: “The really big question is, is the BBC safe from interference by this Government? Because this process has certainly led to very real suspicions that ministers want to get much closer to the BBC, and that is not in anybody’s interests.

But Lord Hall said it was an “extraordinary” claim to make.

“That’s not the journalism I know,” he said. “I think the journalism of the BBC is impartial.”