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| Rona Fairhead: government must protect BBC independence in charter | Rona Fairhead: government must protect BBC independence in charter |
| (6 months later) | |
| BBC Trust chairman Rona Fairhead has said the government must protect the corporation’s independence in its next royal charter. | BBC Trust chairman Rona Fairhead has said the government must protect the corporation’s independence in its next royal charter. |
| Speaking a day after an independent report on BBC governance called for the trust to be scrapped, Fairhead said David Clementi’s recommendations were a “useful starting point” and warned that further work must be done to make sure independence was not undermined. | Speaking a day after an independent report on BBC governance called for the trust to be scrapped, Fairhead said David Clementi’s recommendations were a “useful starting point” and warned that further work must be done to make sure independence was not undermined. |
| Under Clementi’s proposals, a unitary board half appointed by the government would be responsible for editorial or operation decisions “whereas [the trust] are explicitly forbidden involvement” in them, she said. | Under Clementi’s proposals, a unitary board half appointed by the government would be responsible for editorial or operation decisions “whereas [the trust] are explicitly forbidden involvement” in them, she said. |
| Fairhead urged the government to publish the white paper on charter renewal as soon as possible while ensuring that the public support for the BBC – with nearly 90% of respondents to the trust’s recent consultation saying its independence is important. | Fairhead urged the government to publish the white paper on charter renewal as soon as possible while ensuring that the public support for the BBC – with nearly 90% of respondents to the trust’s recent consultation saying its independence is important. |
| “Editorial independence is obviously crucial,” she said. “But so too is financial independence. Any teenager will tell you that you can’t be truly independent without it.” | “Editorial independence is obviously crucial,” she said. “But so too is financial independence. Any teenager will tell you that you can’t be truly independent without it.” |
| She also urged the government not to backtrack on commitments made to increase the licence fee to rise in line with inflation last July. “There must be no undermining or backtracking on the deal,” she said of the last-minute agreement under which the BBC agreed to shoulder the estimated £750m cost of free licence fees for the over-75s. | She also urged the government not to backtrack on commitments made to increase the licence fee to rise in line with inflation last July. “There must be no undermining or backtracking on the deal,” she said of the last-minute agreement under which the BBC agreed to shoulder the estimated £750m cost of free licence fees for the over-75s. |
| “Let me also state very clearly that, in our view, the funding settlement rules out any future top-slicing of the licence fee, or any ideas for setting up contestable funds. Any such step would amount to an additional cut in the BBC’s income and therefore an unacceptable change to the financial agreement.” | “Let me also state very clearly that, in our view, the funding settlement rules out any future top-slicing of the licence fee, or any ideas for setting up contestable funds. Any such step would amount to an additional cut in the BBC’s income and therefore an unacceptable change to the financial agreement.” |
| Given public support for a broad-based and “universal” BBC, Fairhead warned the government not to cut part of its remit to “educate, inform and entertain”. | Given public support for a broad-based and “universal” BBC, Fairhead warned the government not to cut part of its remit to “educate, inform and entertain”. |
| “When people are asked to choose words that summarise what the BBC is there to do, they put ‘entertain’ at the top of the list,” she said. | “When people are asked to choose words that summarise what the BBC is there to do, they put ‘entertain’ at the top of the list,” she said. |
| Fairhead was speaking at the Oxford Media Convention exactly a year after she told the same meeting that the trust needed to be reformed. | Fairhead was speaking at the Oxford Media Convention exactly a year after she told the same meeting that the trust needed to be reformed. |
| Urging the government to publish the white paper needed to renew the charter before it runs out at the end of this year, she said: “For the time being, charter review hangs over the BBC: a cloud of uncertainty and unease. | Urging the government to publish the white paper needed to renew the charter before it runs out at the end of this year, she said: “For the time being, charter review hangs over the BBC: a cloud of uncertainty and unease. |
| “I dearly hope that cloud will have blown over by the end of this year, but that will require some clear decisions to be taken, and quickly.” | “I dearly hope that cloud will have blown over by the end of this year, but that will require some clear decisions to be taken, and quickly.” |
| She also called for an 11-year charter to avoid the political cycle. | She also called for an 11-year charter to avoid the political cycle. |