Parliament Must Have More Input Into BBC Licence Bid
Lord Fowler, chairman of the House of Lords BBC Charter Review Committee, has said the way the BBC’s increased licence fee bid is scrutinised is “totally inadequate”.
He has called for parliament to have a much greater role in examining both the BBC Charter and the BBC bid for an increased licence fee.
“The BBC now receives over £3 billion from the public. On the basis of the BBC’s bid this will rise to over £4 billion in the next seven years. By any measure this is a very substantial sum,” he said.
The Committee has expressed disappointment over the Government’s failure to take on board criticisms of the way the charter review process has been handled.
In a letter to Tessa Jowell MP, secretary of state for culture, media and sport, the Committee makes clear its disappointment that the Government has not taken this opportunity to allow proper parliamentary scrutiny of the charter review process and the way the licence fee is set.
“Our primary concern is the democratic deficit in the arrangements for agreeing the BBC’s Royal Charter and for setting the level of the licence fee. We strongly believe that the Government has too much unchecked power in both these areas and that parliament must be given a greater role. We believe there is increasing support outside parliament for this view,” said the Committee.
“At present the shape of the BBC’s Royal Charter and its associated Agreement is the result of negotiations between the Government and the BBC. No bill is presented to parliament. Provided the secretary of state for culture, media and sport and the chairman of the BBC agree, the deal is done. This is something short of the stated aim of your green paper ‘A strong BBC, independent of government’.
“Under this procedure, Parliament can accept or reject but not amend the licence fee. There is no opportunity to scrutinise the licence fee formula. This is wrong. Parliament should have the opportunity to scrutinise properly and to amend the formula that will dictate how much every household will pay. The funding formula should be put to parliament in a form that allows proper debate and amendment.”
The theme of increased parliamentary scrutiny of the licence fee is continued in the Committee’s recommendation that the National Audit Office should be involved in scrutinising the BBC’s licence fee bid. The Committee states the current BBC bid of an annual increase of RPI plus 2.3% is excessive and will result in a licence fee of £180 by 2014. The involvement of the NAO would ensure that the BBC bid was independently checked.
The Committee says it is concerned that the Government is loading extra costs onto the licence fee. In particular, ministers propose that the cost of helping the vulnerable with digital switchover should be borne by the licence fee payer. This is in contrast to the costs of helping the over 75s with their licence fee, which is borne out of general taxation.
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