Conclusions and recommendations
1. It
is not immediately clear to us why the BBC Trust takes different
views on transparency of employee costs and on transparency of
talent costs, and why grouping of payments in bands for one but
not the other presents data protection or breach of confidence
issues. (Paragraph 4)
2. We are surprised
that the BBC Executive chose to present us with threeminute
reach figures for BBC3 viewing, rather than the standard 15minute
reach figures used in the Annual Report and Accounts, and we are
disappointed that the BBC Executive did not disclose figures on
audience share (as well as 15minute reach) when repeats
of popular BBC1 programmes are excluded. (Paragraph 5)
3. We believe that
it is not reasonable to withhold information about the contribution
of the licence fee payer to the Freesat service, although we accept
that it may be reasonable to withhold information about the total
budget of the joint venture company as commercially confidential.
(Paragraph 6)
4. We believe that
there should be greater clarity as to who speaks for the BBC on
significant policy issues, and we are also concerned that the
BBC Executive may be pursuing policy outcomes that the BBC Trust
has not yet had the opportunity to consider, approve or oppose.
(Paragraph 7)
5. Overall, we are
disappointed with the manner in which the BBC has approached its
response to our questions. We hope that in future years the BBC
will provide a more robust response which makes clear where accountability
lies for particular issues, and that the BBC takes advantage of
its new governance arrangements to take a more constructive approach
to responding to Parliamentary scrutiny. (Paragraph 8)
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