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| Ofcom could take on BBC regulation but not governance, says Sharon White | Ofcom could take on BBC regulation but not governance, says Sharon White |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Ofcom chief executive Sharon White has said the watchdog could take on the wider regulation of the BBC but ruled out absorbing the governance role of the BBC Trust, saying she would ‘draw a line in the sand’ over the issue. | Ofcom chief executive Sharon White has said the watchdog could take on the wider regulation of the BBC but ruled out absorbing the governance role of the BBC Trust, saying she would ‘draw a line in the sand’ over the issue. |
| With the future of the BBC under review by the government and the trust widely expected to be axed, chancellor George Osborne has indicated that he would like to see its regulation pass to the media regulator. | With the future of the BBC under review by the government and the trust widely expected to be axed, chancellor George Osborne has indicated that he would like to see its regulation pass to the media regulator. |
| White said Ofcom already regulated various aspects of the BBC’s output, including issues around decency and harm and offence, and said if the government wanted it to extend its responsibilities to bias and impartiality “we will do the best possible job”. | White said Ofcom already regulated various aspects of the BBC’s output, including issues around decency and harm and offence, and said if the government wanted it to extend its responsibilities to bias and impartiality “we will do the best possible job”. |
| Related: Sharon White – from Leyton schoolgirl to Ofcom leader | Related: Sharon White – from Leyton schoolgirl to Ofcom leader |
| But she also warned there would be resourcing implications for the regulator, which deals with around 25,000 complaints a year, a tenth of the 250,000 complaints that are received by the BBC on an annual basis. | But she also warned there would be resourcing implications for the regulator, which deals with around 25,000 complaints a year, a tenth of the 250,000 complaints that are received by the BBC on an annual basis. |
| White said she did not see a role for Ofcom doing the “core job” of the BBC Trust, in terms of auditing the BBC, setting the strategy and measuring how it was performing against its targets and budgets. “Those decisions need to rest in the leadership of the BBC,” she said. | White said she did not see a role for Ofcom doing the “core job” of the BBC Trust, in terms of auditing the BBC, setting the strategy and measuring how it was performing against its targets and budgets. “Those decisions need to rest in the leadership of the BBC,” she said. |
| “I would put a line in the sand between [regulation] and the core responsibilities of the governance function,” White told MPs on the House of Commons culture, media and sport select committee on Tuesday. “That is not a responsibility we have the competence to discharge.” | “I would put a line in the sand between [regulation] and the core responsibilities of the governance function,” White told MPs on the House of Commons culture, media and sport select committee on Tuesday. “That is not a responsibility we have the competence to discharge.” |
| With the BBC Trust widely expected to be abolished as part of the review of the BBC’s royal charter, last week’s green paper on the future of the BBC outlined three possible futures, including the regulation of the BBC switching to Ofcom, or to an entirely new regulator which has been dubbed “OfBeeb”. | With the BBC Trust widely expected to be abolished as part of the review of the BBC’s royal charter, last week’s green paper on the future of the BBC outlined three possible futures, including the regulation of the BBC switching to Ofcom, or to an entirely new regulator which has been dubbed “OfBeeb”. |
| White warned that concern should be taken that a new OfBeeb-style body did not clash or cause confusion with the role of Ofcom. But she laughed off suggestions of a looming “turf war”. | |
| White, who succeeded Ed Richards as chief executive of the regulator in March this year, said the issue of the digital divide in the UK – homes and businesses with poor broadband service or no broadband at all – was “much more serious” than two or three years ago because of the wealth of public services which require broadband.“If you had industry here, if you had [communications minister] Ed Vaizey here, we would all be saying the digital divide is a much more serious issue than even two, there, four or five years ago because that is how we live our lives and the increasing [number] of public services for which you need a decent broadband connection,” she said. | |
| White said the digital divide was a “core priority” for Ofcom, adding that that the investment required would come “partly from the taxpayer but we hope more substantively it’s investment in the private sector”. | |
| Asked about comments by BT chief executive Gavin Patterson that the separation of BT and Openreach, one possible outcome of an Ofcom investigation, could lead to “10 years of litigation and arguments”, White said: “I can’t say I’m easily intimidated. Our drive is what is going to be the best possible deal for the consumer.” | |
| Asked if she was concerned by BT’s dominance of the marketplace, White said the regulator was reviewing the broadband market because it “feels very different in 2015 than it did 10 years ago”.“If you look at BT business for example and support to small and medium sized enterprises I think you probably would describe that as dominance. BT is about 49%, 50% of the supply to small and medium enterprises,” she said.“If you look at the residential market it is a much more open competitive market with TalkTalk and Sky.“I hope with BT we will have some pretty open and constructive discussions on issues of how well Openreach has worked and whether there are reforms that we might make which could be even more effective for the consumer.”White said there had been a “broad quality of service issue throughout the retail market. We are some way from making a decision. We want to figure out what the right answer is and what the detailed legislative implications would be.”White told MPs she is paid £275,000 a year with an extra flexible allowance of £15,000, nearly double the £151,000 she earned in her previous role at the Treasury. |