Shadow culture secretary attacks 'wild anonymous briefings' on BBC future

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jun/26/shadow-culture-secretary-chris-bryant-anonymous-briefings-bbc

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Shadow culture secretary Chris Bryant has hit out at anonymous briefings claiming the government is going to “cut the BBC down to size” and called for the launch of a consultation on the corporation’s future as a “matter of urgency”.

“The BBC is the single biggest cultural investment we make in the UK and is one of our greatest assets,” said Bryant. “Yet with time fast running out for charter renewal, the government still haven’t even started formal negotiations on its future.

“Instead of this spree of wild anonymous briefings about how the Tories are going to cut the BBC down to size, the government must launch an open, wide and transparent consultation as a matter of urgency.”

Bryant was responding to recent reports on the government’s plans for negotiations over the renewal of the BBC charter, expected to be outlined in a green paper released this summer. The reports include claims in the Telegraph that the government will hand oversight of the corporation to communications regulator Ofcom, and plans to continue the freeze of the licence fee.

However, government sources have told the Guardian that no decisions have been made and the green paper will not name a replacement for the BBC Trust.

Other themes expected to be discussed in the document include the possibility of privatising or part-privatising BBC commercial arm BBC Worldwide. Details of the paper are still being finalised, but there are also suggestions that it will look at the privatisation options for the BBC’s in-house production departments.

Bryant added: “There are important issues to address, especially how to regulate the BBC, how to guarantee its independence and how to fund it. The last thing viewers and listeners want is a slash and burn raid on the Beeb.”

On Thursday, the Independent reported that chancellor George Osborne is considering shifting the bill for free licences for the over-75s from the welfare budget to the BBC, leaving a £600m hole in the corporation’s finances. The corporation is also facing a further gap of £200m if plans to decriminalise non-payment of the licence fee go ahead.