ITV

Tag: Royal Charter

  • BBC Trust to review licence fee structure

    BBC Trust to review licence fee structure

    MUMBAI: The BBC Trust has launched a public consultation as part of a wide-ranging review into how the licence fee is collected for the UK pubcaster.

    The Trust is responsible for overseeing the licence fee collection arrangements, put in place by BBC management, and ensuring they are “efficient, appropriate and proportionate”. This is a new responsibility for the BBC’s governing body which is stated in the Royal Charter for the first time.

    BBC Truist chairman Sir Michael Lyons said, “It is use of a television, or other television receiving equipment, which dictates the need for a television licence, but the purpose of the licence fee is to pay for all BBC domestic services – on television, radio and online. For the BBC to meet its remit, and deliver the quality programmes and services the public rightly expects, it is essential it collects the funding needed.

    ” The BBC has a duty to be efficient in collecting the licence fee and to keep evasion rates as low as possible so that those people who pay are not disadvantaged by those who do not. This is an issue which arouses strong emotions, because the right balance needs to be struck between ensuring compliance with the law and avoiding any disproportionate heavy-handedness. On behalf of licence fee payers, the Trust will consider whether that balance is being struck through the processes used to collect the licence and, if there is room for improvements, we will ensure they are made.”

    The Trusts review will consider areas such as:

    – The range of payment methods available to licence fee payers and whether it is clear to people when a TV licence is needed 
    – The tone of the marketing and advertising about the TV licence 
    – The enforcement methods used by TV Licensing, including letters, visits and detection 
    – Through consultation and formal research, the Trust is seeking the public’s opinion on these issues, as well as their view on how far the BBC should pursue those who should but don’t pay the licence fee.

    The public consultation closes on 28 November 2008. The Trust will also be talking to audience groups and other interested parties and distributing information via libraries and other public places. It will be visiting TV Licensing sites to gain first-hand experience of collection and enforcement of the licence fee.

    The Trust will analyse all the evidence it collects and expects to publish its report next spring, once it reaches its final conclusions. The review will not consider settled public policy issues, such as the cost of the licence fee or whether there should be a licence fee at all.

  • BBC Trust publishes new promise to audiences

    MUMBAI: The BBC Trust has published its new Promise to UK Audiences, making clear how it will engage with the public to hear their views, understand their expectations, and inform them of decisions taken on their behalf.

    The Trust’s Promise to Audiences is a formal requirement of the Royal Charter and has been drawn up in consultation with the public, who were asked how and when they’d like to hear from the Trust and what information is of most interest to them.

    In addition to an open consultation – online and via a questionnaire distributed to all UK public libraries – the Trust met a range of representative bodies and carried out research amongst the public at large to develop a set of principles to underpin its engagement.

    While evidence shows that very few people want to be personally involved in giving their views about Trust activities, there is strong support for the principle of public involvement, with 73 per cent agreeing the public should have a say in the running of the BBC and 95 per cent wanting the Trust to report back on its activities. Trust decisions about value for money, and particularly those linked to new BBC services and significant changes to existing services were seen as the most important for public consultation and reporting.

    The consultation and research also demonstrated the Trust needs to work harder in raising awareness of its work, when it is consulting and, crucially, the impact the public makes on the Trust’s final decisions.

    BBC Trust Chairman Sir Michael Lyons said, “Even though we’ve made real progress in giving a greater voice to the public and can demonstrate its influence, we know from the public’s feedback that we need to do more. The public want to know when they can get involved, but more importantly, they want to know what action has been taken by the Trust as a result, so they can assess whether it’s worth their time and effort.

    “We will continue to look for ways to reach and involve as many people as possible. For example, we are examining the option of trails on the BBC’s own networks – similar to those about digital switchover – to highlight the opportunity to give us your opinion, or to tell you what’s happened as a result.

    “The Trust will always have to use its judgement not least because our large and complex audience has many different views and preferences – but we will always explain the reasons for the decisions we make and how we used the information provided by the public in reaching our decisions.”

    The BBC Trust says that it needs to understand all of the various groups which make up the audience – 
    as such it has to carry out a wide range of public engagement. We will, however, be clear why it is carrying out this work.

    It has therefore, come up with a number of principles which should underpin any engagement activity.

    It wants to use methods of engagement which:

    1. are ones which the public believes will work and will use.

    2. will provide greater visibility for the work of the BBC Trust and, therefore, 
    encourage the public to participate.

    3. reach out to all members of the public, including those who might feel alienated from the BBC, while being resistant to capture by those with the loudest voices and vested interests.

    4. are practical, convenient and easy for those taking part.

    5. are open and transparent, including reporting the outcomes of our engagement.

     6. do not lose sight of the main aim of the BBC, which is to provide quality programmes and services.

  • BBC Trust approves plans to launch Freesat platform

    MUMBAI: The BBC Trust has provisionally approved UK pubcaster the BBC management’s proposal to develop and launch a free-to-view satellite platform, “Freesat”.

    BBC management envisages Freesat being achieved as a joint venture with other public service broadcasters. The Trust believes that the service would create significant public value by offering licence fee payers an additional means to access digital services, including the BBC’s digital television channels and radio services, which is subscription free and guaranteed to stay that way. It would be offered on the basis of a one-off initial payment only, to cover the cost of equipment and installation. The service would be future-proofed, through the designing in of high definition and personal video recorder compatibility, and would be marketed through retail outlets and via the internet. BBC management’s intention is to establish a joint venture company with other public service broadcasters to manage the marketing and technical aspects of the new platform. Set top boxes would be supplied by third parties working with retailers to a specification agreed with the joint venture company.

    The Trust has published its decision, and the evidence and analysis which informed its judgement, and opened a 28 day public consultation prior to making its final decision in April 2007.

    BBC chairman Chitra Bharucha said, “The BBC’s Royal Charter requires the Corporation to take a leading role in digital switchover which begins next year. From 2008 until 2012, as each UK nation and region switches to digital, all households that haven’t done so already will have to choose a new way to access television. One of the benefits arising from digital switchover will be greater choice for viewers. For those seven million homes yet to make the switch, it needs to be clear that the benefits of digital television do not need to equal ‘pay television’.

    “A new, guaranteed subscription-free satellite service would provide the public another option when deciding which platform to choose. Over half of those yet to switch fall outside the Freeview coverage area. For these homes, the new service would mean being able to access BBC digital services they have already paid for via their licence fee but until now have been unable to receive on a guaranteed subscription-free basis.

    “We have considered the market impact and whilst there may be some negative effects, in our view these should be balanced against the potential positive market impact of greater choice. Overall, we believe a “Freesat” service to be in the public interest and we hope that other public service broadcasters would join the BBC in a joint venture. We welcome all responses to our provisional conclusion during the consultation. “

    The BBC Trust has decided that Freesat meets the BBC’s Charter and Agreement definition of a ‘non-service’ activity and does not require a Public Value Test. Nonetheless, in reaching its provisional decision the Trust has considered the potential public value and market implications of launching the service.

    In particular, the Trust examined the proposition in four key areas:

    Whether the proposition would serve the best interests of licence fee payers:
    Of the 7 million homes yet to switch to digital, over half fall outside the Freeview coverage area. Inability to access free-to-view digital is an issue frequently raised by the public in its contacts with the BBC. For some, this would remain an issue until the analogue system is switched off entirely in 2012. The Trust considers failure to address this issue to be inconsistent with its public service duties.

    What public value the new platform might create:
    The Trust has provisionally concluded there is significant public value in the “Freesat” proposition. It believes such a service would have a positive impact by introducing choice to the market and a guaranteed subscription free alternative to Sky’s free satellite option. The costs to the BBC are modest and comparable with those of Freeview. Launching the proposition as a joint venture would further increase value for money.

    How the proposition fits with the BBC’s public service remit:
    The Charter and Agreement set out a number of public service duties for the BBC. The Charter includes a Public Purpose to help deliver the benefits of emerging technologies to the public, and to take a leading role in digital switchover. Meanwhile, the Agreement states that the BBC “must do all that is reasonably practicable to ensure that viewers, listeners and other users are able to access the UK public services that are intended for them”. The Trust has provisionally concluded that the objectives of the proposition are consistent with, and enhance, the BBC’s public service remit.

    The competitive impact of the proposals on the wider market:
    The Trust’s provisional conclusion is that the proposition would have some negative impact on the wider market but increase choice for consumers. The Trust’s view takes account of analysis of the proposition’s potential market implications carried out by its own independent advisers within the Trust Unit and external independent economists.

    Under the terms of the previous Charter the BBC submitted a proposal, approved by the Governors, to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in June 2006 to launch a free open standard satellite service. However the Charter expired before the Secretary of State reached a decision and, in line with the terms of the new Charter, the decision now rests with the BBC Trust. The Trust received the open file from the Secretary of State in January. Further to detailed scrutiny at its Finance & Strategy Committee and the provision of further independent advice referred to above, the Trust reached its provisional conclusion at its meeting on 21 February.