BBC Trust

At the end of the Trust's meeting yesterday Trustees agreed to issue a statement about the following items discussed:

BBC.com

The BBC Trust considered a proposal from BBC management to restructure the BBC's international web presence to a commercial service, BBC.com.

One of the BBC's public purposes, laid down in its new Royal Charter, is to "Bring the UK to the world and the world to the UK". Among the Trust's proposed priorities to underpin the BBC's delivery of this purpose is:

"To sustain and grow the BBC's reputation as the most respected voice in international news broadcasting".

Out of the Charter renewal debate, it is clear that providing independent news and information to an international audience remains integral to the BBC's purpose and, to that end, the BBC must remain a global news organisation. In this digital age, it is essential that the BBC's international presence is equally compelling across all platforms, including the internet.

For the BBC to meet its purpose internationally, it must invest more online. It cannot use the licence fee for this purpose. One option is to carry advertising where appropriate and subject to robust editorial safeguards in line with the BBC's existing approach internationally on television. The Trust has considered the proposals from management for the BBC.com website very carefully, but we are not currently satisfied we have all the information we think is necessary to reach a decision. Consequently we have asked the BBC management to do further work particularly around how advertising revenue would be reinvested in BBC Global News and the BBC's UK public services for the benefit of licence fee payers.

We have also asked the BBC Trust Unit to do further analysis to satisfy the Trust that all issues linked to potential fair trading questions have been addressed.

The Trust hopes to reach a final decision later this Spring.

Freesat

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, the Trust considered the proposal in detail at its meeting yesterday.

The Trust expects to publish its provisional conclusion soon, together with supporting evidence, and open a 28 day consultation before reaching its final decision.

Ends.

Notes to editors

Types of approval

The new Charter and Agreement sets out a range of approval processes designed to create a "tieredv approach to decisions.

The most demanding of these is the Public Value Test (PVT)1 reserved for the most important decisions about new or significantly changed public services. The PVT is a thorough evidence-based process including a Market Impact Assessment by Ofcom. The Agreement envisages that PVTs will normally be completed within six months.

Obviously, not every decision the Trust makes should take six months. Where the decision does not concern new or significantly changed public services, the Charter and Agreement provides a flexible framework in which the Trust can apply its judgement to other forms of approval taking into consideration its general duties2 and functions3.

Where the publicly-funded BBC is making a significant investment, but not in a new service that commissions its own content (ie, BBC One, Radio 3 etc), the new Agreement defines this as a non-service. When considering non-service applications from BBC management, it is for the Trust to decide how it will consider the public interest and market impact issues.

Where the BBC is engaged in commercial services, the Charter and Agreement sets out a different approval mechanism4. This recognises that although the BBC's commercial services must "fit with the BBC's Public Purpose Activities"5 they are not necessarily (but may be) delivering the public purposes and are not publicly funded. Commercial activities must meet the four criteria set out in the Agreement 6:

• Fit with the BBC's Public Purpose Activities
• Commercial efficiency
• Must not jeopardise the good reputation of the BBC or the value of its brand
• Comply with fair trading and avoid distorting the market

More broadly, for both public service and commercial decisions, the Charter sets out an expectation that the Trust will only deal with decisions where they "stand to have significant implications for the fulfilment of the purpose remits or the financial position of the BBC"7 with the expectation that other decisions will be a matter for the Executive Board. The Trust has set out in more detail in its protocols8 how this divide will work. Broadly speaking only strategically significant decisions or those worth more than 50m will come to the Trust.

Footnotes

Agreement, clauses 23-33

Charter, article 23

Charter, article 24

Agreement, clauses 68-74

Agreement, clause 69(1)(a)

Agreement, clause 69(1)

Charter, article 24(2)(e)

Protocol C1, available on https://truemac.vn/bbctrust