BBC PLAN TO SPEND £700M OUTSIDE LONDON GONE AHEAD 'WITHOUT CLEAR PLAN'

The new report has raised concerns the BBC is 'behind schedule in key areas'

The BBC's landmark project to spend an extra £700 million outside London in the coming years has gone ahead 'without clear plan', MPs have said in a new report.

The new report by the influential Public Accounts Committee raises a number of concerns about the broadcaster's implementation of its Across the UK project, which is aimed at making the BBC less London-centric.

In 2021, the corporation announced the plans to cumulatively spend at least extra £700 million outside London between March 2021 and March 2028. The idea was to make the corporation more representative of the whole of the UK.

But the new report has raised concerns the BBC is 'behind schedule in key areas' of the plans. It also pointed to 'unrealistic timelines' for parts of the project and areas where it had 'missed its targets'.

It also accused the BBC of having been 'too confident' of what it can deliver in the future.

The chair of the committee, Labour MP, Dame Meg Hillier, raised concerns about the BBC 'cherry-picking' examples of success for the project and 'sweeping bad news stories under the rug' by saying they were not part of the programme.

She added that the committee's report should act as a 'timely reminder' of the importance of 'seeking value for money, rather than just money spent'.

Reacting to the report, one of the key BBC executives in charge of delivering the project said he was 'disappointed by some of the commentary' in the report.

The PAC's report said: 'The BBC's plans for Across the UK are overly focused on the actions it will take, rather than what impact it intends to achieve.

'The BBC considered moving £700 million of expenditure outside London to be a key measure of success of the programme, but the BBC did not give us a coherent explanation of the impact it expects to deliver for licence fee payers from this commitment.'

MPs were concerned that the corporation's confidence that it would deliver the project as 'expected' were 'misplaced' given parts of the plans were behind schedule.

They added that 'in some key areas the has made slow progress or missed its targets'.

The report recommended: 'The BBC should urgently finalise its plans for getting back on track where it is behind on implementation of Across the UK, including transferring audio spend outside London and its plans for apprentices.'

The PAC also admitted it was concerned about the way the BBC had changed the 'scope' of what was included in the project.

Members of the committee said: 'We are concerned that the BBC is claiming benefits for Across the UK publicly when it is favourable for it to do so for activities that are not part of the programme, compared with dissociating other activities from the programme when they could be seen as a bad news story, such as cuts to local radio.'

The report said BBC moves to evaluate the impact of the project were only due to begin in 2025 – 'too late for it to change course if needed'. It added the BBC had 'not articulated what success will look like'.

As part of the plans, the corporation has moved programmes to new locations and has increased the amount of 'locally-set' dramas from different parts of the UK.

For example, MasterChef is set to move to Birmingham, while new dramas include Nottinghamshire-based series Sherwood.

The report also said MPs were 'concerned' about the cuts to local radio, expressing fears it would 'reduce services for people who are older or less able to access digital online'.

Dame Meg Hillier MP, chair of the committee, said: 'The BBC is seeking to liberate hundreds of millions in spending from the gravitational pull of London, and it is understandable that the simple act of having done so would feel like success.

'But as with every publicly-funded project, it is incumbent on the BBC to track what positive impact its spending is having at the same time.'

She added: 'Parliament and the public must also be fully satisfied that the BBC is not simply cherry-picking examples of success in delivery of Across the UK, while sweeping bad news stories under the rug as not part of the programme, in particular cuts to local radio.

'It must also take care not to over-rely on partnerships with local authorities already dealing with extreme financial pressure.

'We wish the BBC fair wind with ATUK, and hope our report comes as a timely reminder of the importance of seeking value for money, rather than just money spent.'

Responding to the report, Thomas Wrathmell, the BBC's Director of Across the UK, said: 'We have a very clear plan on how we will move investment, programming and decision-making across the UK to get closer to audiences, support the country's diverse creative sectors, and develop and nurture new talent. Our pioneering programme is deliberately ambitious and has been fully assessed.

'We are incredibly proud of the progress we've made so far and remain focused on achieving our targets to deliver cultural and economic benefits across the UK.

He added: 'We are disappointed by some of the commentary in the Committee's report and look forward to addressing the issues raised when we provide our written response.

'We will continue to provide ongoing updates to the general public and industry stakeholders through the BBC's Annual Plan and Annual Report.'

2024-04-16T23:18:35Z dg43tfdfdgfd