BBC ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS
2011/12

BBC MISSION
The BBC’s mission is to inform, educate and entertain. Under theterms of the Charter and Agreement, through its programmes
and services, the BBC should promote six public purposes:
1. Sustaining citizenship and civil society
2. Promoting education and learning
3. Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence
4. Representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities
5. Bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK
6. Helping to deliver the benefits of emerging communications
technologies and services

www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport

Cover picture shows Jessica Raine and Helen George in BBC One’s highly popular drama series Call the Midwife.

BBC ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2011/12

Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State
for Culture, Olympics, Media and SportBy Command of Her Majesty
July 2012

Extended versions of the financial statements provided in Part Two of this report were also laid before
Parliament on 16 July 2012 and are available online at www.bbc.co.uk/annualreportCopyright
The text of this document may be reproduced
free of charge in any format or medium
providing that it is done so accurately and not
in a misleading context. It must be accredited
to the BBC.
Designluminous.co.uk

Presented to Parliament in accordance with the BBC Royal Charter 2006 (Art. 45)

PART 1
THE BBC TRUST’SREVIEW AND ASSESSMENT
Dominique Moore plays Mary Seacole,a Jamaican nurse best known for her
involvement in the Crimean War, in
CBBC’s Horrible Histories (Series 4,
Episode 5). This successful TV series
is helping to educate children about
British history.

CONTENTS AND SUBJECT INDEXPart 1 BBC Trust contents
Overview

1-1 Chairman’s foreword
1-2 Year in brief
1-4 A BBC for the future
BBC performance

1-6 Delivering value for money
1-10 Public purposes
1-11 Service performance
1-16 Serving all audiences
1-18 Securing editorial standards
1-20 Trading fairly

Accountability to audiences

1-22 Transparency
1-23 Understanding audiences
1-24 Audience Councils
Inside the Trust

1-26 BBC Trustees
1-28 Governance
1-33 Trust finances
1-35 Contact the Trust

Subject Index

Part 1

Part 2

Board remuneration
Commercial strategy
Complaints
Delivering Quality First
Digital switchover
Distribution
Editorial priorities
Editorial standards
Efficiency
Equality and diversity
Executive Board directors
Fair trading
Impartiality
Licence fee
Public purposes
Reach by service
Senior manager remuneration
Service performance
Spend by service
Strategic objectives–– Do more to serve all audiences–– Improve value for money–– Increase distinctiveness and quality–– Set new standards in openness and transparency
Syndication of BBC content
Talent costs
Trust expenditure
Trust in the BBC
Trustees

1-9/1-32
1-8
1-3/1-19
1-4/1-6–
1-17–
1-3/1-18
1-6
1-16
–
1-20
1-18
1-7
1-10
–
1-7/1-33
1-11 to 1-15
–
1-4
1-17
1-2/1-6 to 1-9
1-2/1-13
1-22
1-3/1-17
1-7
1-33
–
1-26

2-48
2-36
2-55
2-14
2-25
2-25
2-14
2-38
2-59/2-61
2-31
2-40
2-55
2-15
2-3/2-62
2-14
2-4
2-30
2-4 to 2-7
2-64
2-14
2-23 to 2-25
2-22
2-14 to 2-21
2-26
2-11
2-33
2-65
2-15
2-49

Presented to Parliament in accordance with the BBC Royal Charter 2006 (Art. 45)

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the Trust
Overview

CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD
Of course the BBC isn’t perfect and senior
pay has been one of a number of areas wherechange has been necessary. During the past year
the BBC exceeded its target to cut the numberof senior managers by a fifth and the senior
manager pay bill by a quarter. We will now gofurther, including publishing information about thesalaries of the most senior executives in relation
to the average pay of BBC staff, and using thismultiple as a cap on wages.
The Trust has also made some changes to how
the BBC is governed, including simplifying thecomplaints system, giving Ofcom a greater role
when we consider proposals for new services,and further clarifying the roles of the Trust andthe Executive Board.
Our research over the course of the year has
revealed that most households consider thatthey get good value for their 40 pence a day,but we can’t take this for granted. This year wepublished two reports by the National Audit
Office that will help us improve value for money
for audiences.
So it’s been a pretty good year for the BBC,with much to celebrate, some ongoing issues tobe tackled, and a challenging period ahead as,
like the rest of the public sector, the BBC pulls
in its belt. But I am convinced the BBC is up to
the task of delivering for all audiences in moreconstrained times.
A final point. The successes of this year andindeed every year since 2004 have happened
under the leadership of Mark Thompson,
who will soon stand down. Mark has been an
outstanding Director-General who has led
the BBC with integrity, clarity of purpose anda commitment to the values of public service.
He will be sorely missed and I wish him the bestof luck for the future.

When I became Chairman last year
I said that at its best the BBC is abroadcasting organisation whose quality
and integrity are unique. After a year in
the job I’m even more convinced of this.
This is fundamentally about content. Flick throughthe television and radio listings in pretty much
any week of the past year and you will have seen
numerous examples of exactly the distinctive,
high quality programmes that the BBC should
be making. Of course this is a perpetual challenge
and, while the BBC doesn’t always hit the target,
programmes like the Scottish drama Field ofBlood at one end of the spectrum and Deadly 60
at the other show what can be done. And that’s
not to mention online.
In a year that seemed to produce a never-ending
stream of massive news stories – the Eurozone
crisis, phone hacking and the so-called ArabSpring to name a few – the BBC’s coverage
consistently got the balance right between
immediacy and analysis. And in current affairs the
Panorama programme on abuse at a Bristol carehome reminded us that investigative journalism
Lord Patten of Barnes CH
can be a potent force for exposing wrongdoing
Chairmanand protecting the most vulnerable in our society.
One of the main challenges over the past year
has been working out how the BBC can continue
to produce great programmes with less money.
The plan we have devised won’t be withoutsome pain, but we have limited the impact on thescreen and on the airwaves by focusing efforts on
greater back-office efficiency wherever possible.

In a year of massive news
stories, the BBC’s coverage
consistently got the balanceright between immediacy
and analysis

The BBC exceeded its
target to cut the number ofsenior managers by a fifth
and the senior manager pay
bill by a quarter

Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-1

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the Trust
Overview

YEAR IN BRIEF
The BBC Trust exists to get the best out of the BBC for licencefee payers. This means setting a clear strategy and vision so thateveryone – both within and outside the BBC – understands what
it needs to deliver. Here, Trustees explain how we have worked
in licence fee payers’ interests over the past year.

1-2 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

Delivering value for money
Rotha Johnston, Chair of theTrust Finance Committee until
December 2011

Making distinctive programmesDavid Liddiment, Chair of the
Audiences and Performance
Committee

The public quite rightly expects thelicence fee to be spent efficiently
and effectively. As Trustees, it is our
responsibility to ensure this happens.
We challenge costs in a number ofways, including setting efficiency targets
for the BBC as a whole, and limits forsenior executive pay, and carrying out
a programme of in-depth value-formoney reviews.
This year the BBC’s efficiency
programme delivered some £500millionof savings with no negative impact
either on overall audience numbers
or on appreciation of programmes.
We believe the BBC can make further
savings and have set a new target of 11%
in efficiency savings by 2016/17 as partof the BBC’s wider Delivering Quality
First strategy. Our focus next year will
be to make sure these savings are madewithout jeopardising the distinctive, highquality programmes that audiences love.

This year marked a milestone for the
Trust: we have now completed reviewsof all the BBC’s domestic services. These
reviews have shown us the great valuethat these services, ranging from BBC
One to BBC 6Music to BBC Online,
bring to licence fee payers.
They have also allowed us to identify
areas where the services can still dobetter – such as being more distinctive
both within the BBC’s portfolio andwithin their markets, and meeting theneeds of all audiences, including thosein the north of England, Scotland andNorthern Ireland who have traditionallyappreciated the BBC less.
I believe firmly that the BBC can do evenmore to address these long-standing
issues and we will continue to focus onthem as we begin our second round ofservice reviews later in 2012.

‘We have set a new target for
efficiency savings’‘The BBC’s services bringgreat value but could still beeven more distinctive’Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the Trust
Overview

Securing editorial standards
Alison Hastings, Chair of the Editorial
Standards Committee
At a time of unparalleled scrutiny of thepress and media, the BBC must continue
to strive to keep up the highest editorial
standards. This is fundamental toaudiences’ trust – not just in the content
itself but in the BBC as an organisation.
That’s why the Trust has focusedstrongly on impartiality this year. We
carried out a review of the impartiality
and accuracy of coverage of the‘Arab Spring’ – a subject of interest toaudiences both at home and abroad.
We also announced a series of seminars
to look at impartiality in the coverage of
topical issues.
I am confident that our work in thisarea will help ensure the BBC gives
appropriate air time to a range of
opinions and voices; an important
obligation for us as a trusted broadcaster.

‘The highest editorial
standards are fundamental toaudiences’ trust in the BBC’

Connecting more audiences
through new technology
Diane Coyle, Chair of the Strategy
and Approvals Committee

Reforming the BBC’s
complaints system
Richard Ayre, Chair of the Complaints
and Appeals Board

People now expect to access the
BBC programmes they love in many
ways – TV set-top boxes, PCs, mobile
phones, tablets, games consoles,
internet-connected TVs. So we decided
we had to review how the BBC reaches
audiences through all these newtechnologies, and this year we publishedour new policy.
Our starting point was that BBC content
should be available free to as many
people in as many ways as possible, butthat this must be done cost-effectively;
and that the BBC seeks to minimise
any adverse effects that its actions may
have on the commercial market. Licencefee payers also rightly expect that any
BBC content should be consistently highquality, and should include features suchas parental controls and accessibility.
I believe our new syndication policy
achieves all this, while leaving enoughflexibility for the BBC to adapt to futuretechnological change.

When it comes to handling complaints,
the BBC hasn’t always kept pace with
communications technology like emails
and social networks. Moreover, whilemost complainants have been satisfied
by the BBC’s initial response, too often
those who appeal find the system
cumbersome and slow. So the Trust
asked for a fundamental review tofind a simpler, more responsive andcost-effective way of handling arounda quarter of a million complaints a year.
We have agreed improvements tothe complaints system to speed it up,
simplify it, and focus resources where
they are genuinely needed. If the BBCgets something wrong, these changes
should ensure that complaints get more
quickly to the people best placed to deal
with them. And, if the BBC sometimes
gets things badly wrong, it should delivera remedy that’s timely and unambiguous.

‘Bringing the BBC to as many
people as possible in as many
ways as possible’‘A simpler, more responsive
and cost-effective way ofhandling complaints’

Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-3

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the Trust
Overview

A BBC FOR THE FUTURE
BBC Trust Chairman Lord Patten reflects on the BBC’s purpose anddescribes the role it plays in the nation’s creative and public life, as well
as how it can best live up to its reputation and public service values.

The security of the licence
fee and the broad base of
public support and affection
for the BBC give it the
freedom and responsibility
to live dangerously at times

The BBC must continue
to provide better value
for money, while setting
new standards of openness
and transparency

What is the BBC for? What should it be trying
to do? And is it as good as it can be? These arethree questions I have explored in my first year
as Chairman. Not as part of some navel-gazing
exercise, but because the answers will help theTrust define the future direction for the BBC.
I’ve concluded that the BBC should not be
afraid of the tag ‘intellectual’, but nor should it
ever be too self-consciously highbrow. Instead, itshould seek to occupy a broad cultural territory
inhabited by the great majority of the audience
who want to be not only entertained by theBBC, but also informed, educated and inspiredby it.
This is important because if the BBC canencourage millions of people to pursue newideas and ambitions, then it has already gonea long way towards justifying its funding andits elevated position in the nation’s cultural life.
In doing this the BBC shouldn’t try to choose
between being popular or intelligent. It should
try to be both. You need look no further
than programmes such as Stargazing Live,
Sherlock and Today for evidence of its ability
to achieve this.
One thing I am convinced of is that the BBC will
never prosper by playing safe. The security of thelicence fee and the broad base of public support
and affection for the BBC give it the freedom
and responsibility to live dangerously at times.
It should take that opportunity, not by lowering
cultural standards or accepting the shoddy or
vulgar, but by setting the bar high for itself andthen continuing to raise it.
This means producing programmes that are not
only high quality, but are genuinely distinctive,
genuinely different from what is offeredelsewhere – genuinely ‘BBC’. This is particularly

important during peak time on the main
television channels and radio stations, BBC One
and BBC Two and BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio2, where the BBC attracts its largest audiences.
In doing so the BBC shouldn’t simply cater forminority interests; it must remain universally
relevant and should seek to serve everyone
who pays a licence fee.
I understand that this is difficult for channel
controllers and commissioners when theovernight ratings provide such a public, daily
scorecard. So part of the job of the Trust andthe Executive has been to find ways to help
those who make and commission programmes
define what it means for the BBC to do well inother ways beyond ratings.
While programmes are the core of what the
BBC does, there are other challenges. We
have to make sure the BBC stays ahead of thetechnological curve and continues to reachlicence fee payers in new ways, while not leaving
behind its core audience.
The BBC must also continue to provide better
value for money, while setting new standards ofopenness and transparency, particularly by telling
people how it spends their licence fee.
And how the BBC goes about meeting theseobjectives is also important. This means always
acting in ways that are consistent with theBBC’s values.
If the BBC succeeds in meeting all these aims,
it will continue both to justify the affection andtrust that the public place in it and to enhance
what I believe is a well-deserved reputation as
the world’s greatest broadcaster.

Putting Quality First strategic objectives
In December 2010 the Trust set four strategic objectives for the BBC which underpin the
Delivering Quality First strategy. We report on performance against these in the following pages.
Improve value formoney for licencefee payers
1-4 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

Increase thedistinctiveness andquality of output

Do more to serve
all audiences

Set new standards
in openness andtransparency

BBC PERFORMANCE
Monitoring the BBC’s performance is a key role of the Trust. We work
to ensure it delivers value for money; we monitor performance of theBBC’s services and other activities with audiences and we monitor how
it is delivering the BBC’s six public purposes. We assess compliance witheditorial standards and fair trading frameworks. We have set four strategic
objectives to guide the BBC in the future.
Presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue
Perkins front Series 2 of the GreatBritish Bake Off on BBC Two, bringing
together people from across the UK
to celebrate fantastic home cooking.

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the Trust

DELIVERING VALUE FOR MONEY

The public expects the BBC to use the licence fee efficiently andeffectively. Our challenge is to ensure that the BBC is highly efficient
without jeopardising the distinctive, high quality services that audiences
value. This year, the BBC delivered significant efficiency savings with no
detrimental impact on overall audience numbers or appreciation scores.
Presenter Huw Edwards introduces
the Ten O’Clock News. Audiences
continue to rely on BBC News fortrusted news and current affairs.

1-6 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

Value for money at the BBC
Value for money is essentially about therelationship between cost and performance:
what you get for the money you spend. For theBBC, this means delivering distinctive, high quality
services against the demands of a challenging
licence fee settlement. Audiences want to see theirmoney being spent on good quality output so the
BBC focuses on making savings that affect neither
the quality nor the scope of its services andreinvests these savings into its key priority areas.
Pressing for efficiencies and monitoring the BBC’s
performance in this respect is one of our key
activities. We focus on the following areas:• the BBC’s long-term financial strategy• licence fee collection activities• significant financial proposals• in-depth reviews of the BBC’s activities
and services• BBC Worldwide’s commercial strategy• the strategy for Executive pay
This year, the BBC delivered significant efficiency
savings with no detrimental impact on overall
audience numbers or appreciation scores. This isa positive message in terms of the BBC’s value formoney. The results of the Trust’s Purpose Remit
Survey for 2011/12 showed that 56% of UK adults
agreed that their household received good value
from the licence fee. This level of appreciation
has remained stable over the past four years but
suggests that there is a need to better explain
how the money is being spent.

Financial strategy
The Trust sets the BBC’s high level strategy andbudget and holds the BBC to account for its
financial and service performance.
Efficiency savings
We set the BBC a target to deliver 3% year-onyear efficiency savings over the period 2008/09– 2012/13. This year was the penultimateyear of that efficiency programme, whichin 2011/12 delivered £499million of savings
against the 2008/09 baseline. We believe the
BBC can make further savings and this year we
set a new target to deliver efficiencies of anadditional 11% by 2016/17. These efficiency savings
will contribute to the BBC’s wider Delivering
Quality First (DQF) strategy.
In July 2011 we commissioned an independent
review by Ernst & Young to assess whether the
Executive had approached the DQF efficiency
programme in a rigorous and thorough way. In
September 2011 Ernst & Young concluded fromtheir findings at the time that the Executive wasrunning an effective programme from whichrobust and challenging efficiency proposals haveemerged. Their report also noted that further
work was inevitably required to develop detailed
cost saving plans, particularly for the latter yearsof the programme, and made recommendations
as to how the BBC can deliver these plans in achallenging economic environment.

Overview | BBC
BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the Trust

Our focus next year will be to monitor DQF
implementation, in particular to ensure efficiency
savings are not made at the expense of thequality or scope of BBC services.
Performance against service licence budgets
We issue each of the BBC’s 28 services with aservice licence, setting out what we expect it
to achieve and its budget. If the service over orunderspends by more than 10%, we consider
whether the character of the service has changed
significantly. All services performed within
the budget limits set by the Trust except for
BBC HD, BBC Radio 1 Xtra, BBC Radio 5 Live,BBC Radio 4 Extra and BBC Red Button which
underspent by more than 10%. We are satisfied
that these underspends have not compromised
the quality or scope of the services.
Talent pay
We recognise the importance of talent toaudiences and the contribution it makes tothe distinctiveness of programmes. However,
it is vital that the BBC reaches the right deals
that represent value for money for licence fee
payers. In 2009, we asked the BBC to reduce
the amount it spends on talent, in particular
top talent, without compromising the qualityof programmes. The BBC is continuing tomeet this commitment and this year spentsome £203million on talent, £9.5million lessthan last year.
Ensuring the licence fee supports thewider economy
The BBC, through the way it spends the licencefee, plays an important role in supporting the
UK’s wider creative economy. In a challenging
economic climate, the security of the licencefee can be an important source of funding forsmaller businesses and independent producers,
and key to their success. The BBC spent£1,095million in the UK’s creative economy
during 2011/12. The BBC commissioned 37%
and 19% of eligible television and radio content
respectively from external producers.
Licence fee collection
The Trust is responsible for the BBC’s licence feecollection arrangements and we aim to ensure
they are efficient and appropriate. The public
expects as much of the licence fee as possible to
go towards funding high quality programmes andcontent. When compared with the previous year,
the amount of the licence fee spent on collection
has remained stable at 3.4%. The combined costof collection and evasion has also remained stable
at 8.6% of licence fee income.
Significant financial proposals
The Trust scrutinises key BBC financial proposals
where these have a significant impact on the
BBC’s finances. This year, the Trust approved there-tendering of the BBC’s TV Licensing collection

and administration contract. The new contract
is expected to deliver significant savings over the
next eight years.
In-depth reviews
We commission in-depth reviews of theBBC’s activities, such as Ernst & Young’s DQF
efficiency programme review. In addition, we
undertake our own reviews of BBC services.
The National Audit Office (NAO) also carriesout value-for-money reviews and reports its
findings to the Trust.
The Trust works with the Executive to ensure
the BBC acts on the recommendations madein these reviews, and the Executive reports backto us on its progress against the agreed actions.

The BBC delivered£499million of efficiency
savings in 2011/12

Service reviews
We review each BBC service to assess its
performance against its service licence at least
once every five years. This rolling programmeof reviews helps us to assess the BBC’s value
for money at a service level.
This year we reviewed: BBC Radio 5 Live; BBC
5 Live Sports Extra; the BBC News Channel;
BBC Parliament; BBC Asian Network; BBC
Local Radio; and the BBC’s national radio stations

Strategic objective
IMPROVE VALUE FOR MONEY FOR LICENCEFEE PAYERS
This year the BBC continued to improve its efficiency and value for money.
Next year the BBC will work towards securing further savings.

£499m

Efficiency savings in 2011/12

Annual efficiency savings exceeded the
3% target set by the Trust.

–24.4%The Executive exceeded the target of a
20% reduction in the number of senior
managers.1
1–26.9%The Executive exceeded the target ofa 25% reduction in the senior manager
pay bill.

 ‘senior manager’ is defined as a public service
A
employee in a senior manager grade.

56%
56% of UK adults believe that the BBC offers
good value for money.2
2

Purpose remit study 2011/12.

Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-7

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the Trust

DELIVERING VALUE FOR MONEYCONTINUED

Matt Smith as the Doctor and Karen
Gillan as Amy Pond in Doctor Who, oneof the BBC’s most valuable exports
through BBC Worldwide.

The commercial strategy
aims to ensure BBC
Worldwide delivers
growing and sustainabledividends that support theBBC’s overall funding model

1-8 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In
general, we found that each service operated
within its agreed service licence budget while
either broadly maintaining or improving its overall
performance in terms of reach and quality.
Looking ahead, all services will need to meetthe challenge of delivering the savings proposed
under the BBC’s new strategy, while maintaining
or improving quality.
NAO reviews
The NAO reported on the following two
reviews in 2011.
The BBC’s efficiency programmeThis NAO review considered the BBC’s progress
up to March 2011 in delivering its efficiency
programme. It concluded that the BBC wason track to exceed its efficiency target while
broadly maintaining its overall performance interms of audience measures. The programme
was therefore delivering value for money given
its objectives. The BBC is now implementing
a series of measures to address the NAO’s
conclusion that the BBC could not demonstrate
whether all the savings represented genuine
efficiencies. The report recommended that the
BBC should build on the successful elementsof its efficiency programme and strengthen its
approach to targeting savings by creating a culture
in which cost is challenged on a continuing basis.

Cost of support functions
In this review, the NAO found that the BBC
had reduced the costs of most of its support
functions over the last five years and concluded
that the BBC’s current approach to challenging
the cost of its support functions was broadly
effective in improving value for money. The
NAO recommended that the BBC should fundits support services based on a consistent andrigorous understanding of what those services
should deliver to the BBC, a recommendationthat the BBC is now implementing.
BBC Worldwide commercial strategy
BBC Worldwide exploits the value in the BBC’s
intellectual property on the licence fee payer’s
behalf. Through dividends and direct investmentin programmes, it makes a significant contribution
to the funding of the public services. In approving
the commercial strategy, the Trust gives BBC
Worldwide clear parameters within which tooperate to ensure its activities are aligned with
the BBC’s public service remit. In particular, weseek to ensure that its commercial activity does
not damage the BBC’s brand or reputation, at
home or abroad. The strategy aims to ensure
BBC Worldwide delivers growing and sustainabledividends that support the BBC’s overallfunding model.
BBC Worldwide’s contribution to the BBC’s
finances increased again in 2011/12 – up 18.7%
compared to the previous year, to £216million.

Overview | BBC
BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the Trust

Executive pay
We recognise that our approach to pay at the
BBC – particularly to the amount paid to senior
executives – plays a part in delivering value formoney. Our approach to executive pay is tobalance the need to attract high calibre people tomanage the BBC with the need to ensure value
for money for the licence fee payer.
This year the Executive met the target we agreed
with them in 2009 to reduce the BBC’s senior
management pay bill by 25%, and to reduce thenumber of senior managers working in the public
service divisions of the organisation.
In July 2011 we updated our senior management
pay strategy to ensure that the BBC’s
remuneration practices would not undermine
the trust and confidence of the public we serve.
The new initiatives announced this year include:• reducing the number of senior managers
to around 1% of the total staff population• withdrawing bonuses from all executive
directors (where these had previously
been frozen)• improving the fairness of the BBC’s
remuneration policy, by removing theentitlement to private health insurance for
new senior managers• publishing more information about the payof senior managers
We also agreed that every year in the Annual
Report we would publish a ‘pay multiple’ so
the public can see exactly how the pay of thoseat the top of the BBC compares to the rest of
the organisation. We will do this by comparing
the median pay of Executive Board members
to median pay within the BBC. This willallow licence fee payers to have a greater
understanding of the amount paid to theBBC’s most senior executives, and it will allow
the public to compare the BBC with otherorganisations who choose to publish thisinformation. We are using this pay multiple
to cap the amount paid to executive directors.
The pay multiple for executive directors is
published in Part Two of this Annual Report, andwe have published the multiple for the DirectorGeneral in our report in the next column.

Executive Board Remuneration Report 2011/12
The amount paid to members of the Executive Board for 2011/12 is detailed
in the Executive Board’s Remuneration Committee report in Part Two of thisAnnual Report.
The Director-General
The Director-General of the BBC, Mark Thompson, is the organisation’s chief
executive officer and editor-in-chief; he chairs the BBC’s Executive Board.
The Director-General’s remuneration consists of a base salary and a pension,
on standard BBC terms. With the indefinite suspension of the bonus scheme
for all executive directors there is now no performance-related element to the
Director-General’s remuneration.
The Director-General is provided with a car and driver which he uses forbusiness journeys principally in London; he is not entitled to a personal car
or fuel allowance.
In 2011/12 the Director-General’s salary has been reduced for the second year
in a row. This reduction is the result of his decision to forego a cash pension
supplement that was previously paid, alongside his decision to take a voluntary
reduction in his base pay.
In 2011 we agreed to publish the multiple of the BBC median earnings andDirector-General’s earnings. For the BBC in the year 2011/12, this multiple
was 16.5 (16.8 in 2010/11). This figure is calculated using the Director-General’s
substantive salary, not taking into account the voluntary pay surrender for
2011/12.
In March 2012, Mark Thompson indicated that he would stand down fromthe post of Director-General; he will leave the BBC with a significant legacyof achievements and our very best wishes for the future. We are recruiting
a successor to fill this role.
Non-executive directors
The non-executive directors receive a fee determined by the Trust. Fee levels
were set with reference to rates paid by other UK corporations, but at a levelsuch that the non-executive directors are not financially dependent on the BBC.
Each non-executive director receives a base fee; the chair of each committee
receives an additional fee for undertaking that task; and the senior non-executive
director also receives an additional fee. Non-executive directors are reimbursed
for expenses and any tax arising on those expenses is settled directly by the BBC.
We last reviewed the fees for non-executive directors in December 2010, anddecided to maintain the fees at the existing level; we will next review these feesin December 2013.
In 2011/12 the non-executive directors took a voluntary reduction in their fees
equivalent to one month’s pay.
Executive directors
The Executive Board’s Remuneration Committee sets the remuneration
package for individual executive directors, within a strategy agreed by the Trust.
Each year the Trust considers a formal report assuring us that our strategy is
being followed. We have considered the report for 2011/12 and are content withthe approach being taken. Further information on the remuneration packages
for executive directors can be found in Part Two.

Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-9

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the Trust

PUBLIC PURPOSES
The six public purposes, built on the BBC’s mission to inform, educate andentertain, and set out in the Charter, should underpin everything the BBC
does. This year the BBC continued to deliver most of its purposes well inline with the public’s expectations.

The Trust measures how well the Executive is delivering the
purposes, set out on this page, using a number of sources, including
our annual Purpose Remit Survey. This asks audiences for views
on how important each issue is and on the BBC’s performance.
Survey results this year showed that impressions of the BBC
remained generally positive, with more than eight in ten adults
being ‘high’ or ‘medium’ approvers. As in previous years, a very
high percentage of adults agreed that they would miss the BBC if
it wasn’t there. People continued to have very high expectationsof the BBC across all public purposes and the BBC continued
to deliver most of its public purposes well in line with these

expectations. The emerging communications purpose has
increased in importance and the BBC’s performance has kept
pace with expectations. However, distinctiveness and portrayal
remain areas for improvement within the creativity andrepresentation purposes.
In the coming year the Trust will review the purpose remits, which
define priorities within each purpose for the Executive and how
they are measured to ensure they remain relevant.

Sustaining citizenship and civil society
This purpose continued to be very important to audiences and,overall, their expectations are being met. Audiences continued
to believe that the BBC provides independent, accurate andimpartial news and analysis as well as allowing people directaccess to the institutions that represent them. However, there is
still a gap in terms of ‘understanding politics in my nation/region’.

Representing the UK, its nations, regions
and communities
This remains an area of concern. This year the gap between
audience expectations and the BBC’s performance widened,particularly the portrayal of nations and regions, even while
quality scores remained high. Audiences in Northern Ireland,
Wales, Scotland and some English regions felt the BBC could
do better. The BBC must continue to focus on delivery ofthis purpose and it is making a number of changes to theway it commissions and produces content in order to do
this more effectively.

Promoting education and learning
Audiences continued to see the BBC’s contribution toeducation as a key strength of the BBC, and expectations in thisarea remained high. Parents with children under 18 continued
to feel that the BBC could do more to help children and teenswith what they learn in school and college.

Bringing the UK to the world and the world
to the UK
The BBC continued to perform strongly on this purpose. The
performance score for helping people understand international
news and events increased across all audience groups this year.
The context for this increase was a major international news
agenda, including the Arab Spring and the Japan earthquake.

Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence
Providing high quality, entertaining content is seen as a strengthof the BBC. Audiences strongly appreciated the programmes
and services and expected the BBC to set a benchmark for
quality. However, audiences remained concerned about theprovision of fresh and new programmes and felt that the
BBC could take more creative risks. We know from thequalitative research we did this year that this is particularly
an issue in television, so increasing distinctiveness continues
to be a key objective for the BBC.

Helping to deliver the benefits of emerging
communications technologies and services
By the end of 2011, digital switchover in TV had successfully
covered nearly two-thirds of households in the UK. Listening
to digital radio also continued to grow. The digital purpose
scored higher in terms of both importance and performancein this year’s survey and scores were highest among teenagers
and young adults. Continuing innovations, such as YouView,
launching in 2012, will continue to enhance accessibility for
all audiences.

1-10 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

Overview | BBC
BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the TrustSERVICE PERFORMANCEThis year we completed the first cycle of our reviews of all the BBC’s
domestic services. The BBC continues to reach a wide audience whovalue its high quality content. We believe the BBC can improve further
the distinctiveness of its programmes.
BBC Radio Cornwall presenters
David White and Debbie McCrory
at the Torch Relay in Falmouth.
A Trust review found that BBC Local
Radio is highly valued by its listeners.

Television
BBC Television performed very strongly again
this year with levels of viewing and viewers’
perceptions of quality remaining very high indeed.
We carried out audience research which helped
explain how, while most television viewing is still
live, the use of catch-up and on-demand means
people are enjoying the television they watch
even more.
In the 18 months since we completed ourreviews of BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four,
we followed up on the actions we set the
Executive. While we have no doubt that thequality of output is very high across the board,
we are still challenging the Executive to takemore creative risks and to offer more distinctive
programmes, particularly in peak time whenviewing is highest. Our challenge is rooted inour duty to monitor the BBC’s performancein promoting its culture and creativity public
purpose and, specifically, in the fact that the public
has high expectations for ‘fresh and new’ content,
which the BBC could do more to meet. We areclear also that the BBC should use the security of
its licence fee funding to take creative risks that acommercial broadcaster might never consider.
BBC OneBBC One remains the nation’s most watchedchannel and audience perceptions of the qualityof its programmes remain very high.

We continued to assess progress against the
points we raised in the service review. These
focused on the range of programming and thedegree of creative ambition in peak time. Highpoints included Sherlock, which was loved byboth audiences and critics. We are continuing tochallenge BBC One to offer its viewers more interms of fresh and new ideas and we support
the controller’s ambitions for BBC One to be
more topical and to ensure that serious current
affairs has a peak-time home.
BBC Two
We are confident that BBC Two is succeedingin becoming more distinctive as our review
urged. Its programme ratings for ‘high quality’and ‘fresh and new’ are evidence that viewers
appreciate this.
The return of original drama to BBC Two has
helped broaden the BBC’s drama portfolio while
the range of factual programming, from history
to science and the arts, together with somenoteworthy current affairs programmes, werealso real strengths this year.
Daytime on BBC One and BBC Two
In our service reviews of BBC One and Two
we agreed with the Executive that daytime
programming needed to be refreshed.
We were pleased to see that quality scoresfor daytime rose this year. The range anddiversity of programming increased, with
Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-11

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the TrustSERVICE PERFORMANCECONTINUED

Ayesha Dharker and Sanjeev
Bhaskar in BBC One’s daytime drama,
The Indian Doctor.

Audiences’ perceptionsof quality increased froman already high level1-12 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

CBBC also had another very strong year. Reachamong children aged 6–12 increased slightly to39%, while parents’ perceptions of the quality of
BBC Three and BBC Fourthe channel remained high. In cable and satellite
BBC Three had a strong year with higher reachhomes, where CBBC competes with channels notamong its target audience and higher perceptions
available on Freeview, reach also increased to 31%.
of quality.
We agreed with the Executive that, once theFollowing our review of BBC Four, we asked
digital switchover is complete, and every home
the Executive to increase the channel’s impact,
has access to CBBC and CBeebies, the BBC
particularly for arts and culture. So we were
will no longer broadcast children’s programmes
pleased to see this year that viewers are muchon BBC One and BBC Two. We will review themore familiar with the channel and its role.
BBC’s children’s output again in the coming
BBC Four performed very well both with its
year as we start our second five-year roundoriginal programmes and with dramas acquiredof service reviews.
from overseas.
Radio
BBC ALBA
Nine out of ten adults listen to the radio every
Last year we published our findings on the BBC’s
week and hours of listening remained fairly
Gaelic-language television channel BBC ALBA
stable, following some years of decline.
which concluded that it is performing well andBBC radio had another very strong year withis appreciated by both fluent Gaelic speakers
quality scores higher across the board. The
and Gaelic learners. The service launched on
BBC’s digital stations all increased listening thisFreeview and cable in 2011, leading to a large
year. 29% of all listening to BBC radio is now
increase in its audience.
via digital platforms.
CBBC and CBeebies
BBC Radio 1
CBeebies continued to perform exceptionally
BBC Radio 1 has a remit to serve a youngwell. It remains the most watched children’schannel among children aged six and under, with audience and plays an important role for the
BBC in this respect, bringing news and otheraround 49% watching each week, and is highly
public service output to those who mightvalued by their parents.
not otherwise hear it. However, this remit
is challenging as radio listening remains
lower among teens and young adults.
notable successes in original drama, consumer
journalism and current affairs programmes.

Overview | BBC
BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the Trust

BBC Radio 1’s reach remains very high among its
target audience of 15–29 year olds, with some
42% of them listening each week. However, due
to the number of its listeners who are outsidethat age group, the median age of BBC Radio 1
listeners is 30. This has been broadly stable since
our service review in 2009, taking into account achange of measurement.
We continued to press the Executive for
evidence that the station is focused on serving
a young audience and we were pleased to seeschedule changes and online developments
designed to increase relevance and appeal to
the young. We still expect to see a shift in thebalance towards its younger listeners and wewill continue to monitor performance.

BBC digital radio: BBC 1Xtra, BBC 6Musicand BBC Radio 4 Extra
The digital-only stations all had a successful
year with increases in reach in each case,
together with strong appreciation. BBC Radio
4 Extra became the most listened-to BBC
digital station.

BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 continues to be the nation’s mostpopular radio station. In our service review
published in 2010, we made a number ofrecommendations to make the station more
distinctive, particularly during the day, and we
asked the Executive to ensure that the station
remains focused on an older audience. We aresatisfied with progress this year but will continue
to assess this.

BBC Asian Network
This year we also completed our review of
the BBC Asian Network. The station is valued
for both its music output and its original news
and speech programming by the British Asian
community it serves and is recognised forits distinctive offer compared to other Asianradio stations. The challenge for the station
over the next few years will be to preserve

BBC Radio 3
Our service review found that BBC Radio 3
makes a significant contribution to the BBC’s
fulfilment of its public purposes but faces achallenge in appearing accessible to new listeners.
The Executive made some small changes tomorning programmes designed to improve thestation’s accessibility. Listening figures remained
broadly stable while quality scores increased, withappreciation the highest for any BBC network
radio station, although there was some external
criticism of the changes. BBC Radio 3 must
maintain its distinctive range of music, but wesupport it making changes from time to timein how it delivers that music to audiences.
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 had an excellent year, with a rangeof programming that stood out for listeners.
It reaches 10 million people each week andperceptions of quality and distinctivenesswere extremely high. In our service review,
we endorsed a strategy intended to broaden
the station’s appeal to more diverse audiences
without compromising the quality of its
programmes. We were pleased to see some
initial signs that the long-term decline in listening
amongst 35–54 year olds is being reversed,
since this audience is very important to the longterm health of the station. The Executive also
undertook initiatives to increase appeal to people
from different parts of the UK, and from blackand minority ethnic groups. There was some
progress in these areas, but we will continue
to urge the Executive to address this challenge.

BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC 5 Live Sports Extra
We concluded a review of these services thisyear. Both performed well and their audiences
value their mix of accessible news and sports
programmes. We concluded that BBC Radio
5 Live must increase its focus on news and we
asked the Executive to ensure that a range ofsports, including those of minority interest, getscoverage alongside football.

BBC Radio 4 had an
excellent year, with a rangeof programming that stoodout for listeners

Strategic objective
INCREASE THE DISTINCTIVENESS ANDQUALITY OF BBC OUTPUT
This year the BBC made progress against this objective but the Trust will seek
further evidence of distinctiveness in the coming year.
Audience appreciation

Audience appreciation (AI) rose for most BBC output in 2011/12. The television AI scorerose to 83 from 82 in 2010/11. The radio AI score rose to 81 from 80 in 2010/11 (BBC Pulse
Survey). The online score fell to 77 from 80 in 2010/11 (BBC Online Quality Survey).

Perceptions of ‘fresh and new’

The proportion of the audience agreeing that BBC television programmes are ‘fresh andnew’ rose to 70% from 68% in 2010/11 (BBC Pulse Survey).

Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-13

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the TrustSERVICE PERFORMANCECONTINUED

Mobile is the fastest growing platform
for BBC News with a massive take-up
on smartphones and tablets.

Each Nations Radio service
offers listeners something
they cannot get elsewhere

1-14 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

its distinctiveness and continue to improve quality proposals which we have now approved. Our
while reaching some new listeners and reducing review highlighted the aspects of BBC Local
Radio that are valued by listeners and we will
its costs.
monitor the impact of the forthcoming changes
Nations radio
to ensure that these aspects are safeguarded.
This year we completed our reviews of the
BBC Online
BBC’s national radio stations (BBC Radio
Around 20 million people use BBC Online each
Scotland, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Ulster/
week, making it one of the BBC’s most used
Foyle, the Welsh language station BBC Radio
services. While the number using the service has
Cymru, and the Gaelic language station BBC
grown a little, people are accessing BBC Online
Radio nan Gàidheal). We found that theon more devices – over a quarter of use is now
stations operate in a very different cultural,social and political environment and that listener via mobile phones and tablets.
numbers and audience perceptions of quality
The service is a year into a strategy whichvary too. However, each service offers licenceaims, on a lower budget, to simplify navigation
fee payers distinctive content. We challenged
and increase focus. As sites were relaunched,
the Executive to develop its strategy for eachuser perceptions of quality of some of themstation in response to feedback from our public were affected. We believe it is important that
consultation and research, and we agreed
users find BBC Online a high quality offer anda number of actions including safeguards towe will look at what they expect from thepreserve the most distinctive aspects
service when we review it in 2012.
of each station.
BBC Red Button
BBC Local RadioThe service performed well this year, with
We reviewed BBC Local Radio this year. Its
quality scores improving slightly and weekly reachlisteners value highly the distinctive content,
remaining stable at around 31%. In line with theincluding local news, community-based discussion conclusion of our 2010 review and wider BBC
and sports coverage. Alongside our scrutiny ofstrategy, there will be some reductions to thethe BBC’s wider strategy, we consulted publicly
service in the coming years.
on the Executive’s proposals for BBC Local Radio.
We found strong opposition to the plans andconcern that cuts would damage local journalism.
The Executive responded with a revised set of

Overview | BBC
BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the TrustNews and current affairs
BBC News is a vital service to licence fee payers
and remains by far the most trusted source fornews in the UK. It has maintained its very highweekly reach of over 80%. The strong news
agenda this year meant that reach to BBC news
on television remained strong, with 69% watchingeach week, despite the many other sources ofnews available to people. Reach to news andcurrent affairs on BBC radio was also strong.
This year we published our review of the
BBC News and BBC Parliament channels. We
found that both have record, and growing
audiences. Audiences consider the BBC News
Channel to be high quality and distinctive. BBC
Parliament’s audiences praise its live, unmediatedcoverage of political institutions and also value its
commitment to covering the devolved nations.
In recent years, there has been a gradual decline
in the number of people watching current affairs
programmes on television. Nevertheless a fullrange of high impact current affairs is a vital
part of the BBC’s offer on television and radio,even with budgets under pressure. Specifically,
reviewing BBC costs and scope this year, weconcluded that the BBC should maintain thevolume of current affairs programmes on BBC
One and BBC Two.

Felicity Evans presents the Radio
Wales breakfast show, Good Morning
Wales. BBC Radio Wales, along withother national radio stations, offers adistinctive service to listeners.

Sport
BBC Sport performed strongly across television,
radio and online. Reach was lower this year
because there were fewer big sporting events,
but audiences still rated BBC Sport highly and theBBC’s share of sports viewing far outweighs its
share of output.
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service reached 180 million
adults around the world this year, an increase of
14 million from last year. While numbers listening
to short-wave radio services continued to fall,
there was strong growth in TV reach and 27
million people watched the BBC World Service’s
non-English television services each week (anincrease of 9 million from last year). Total usageof the World Service website was relatively
stable, while access online via mobile phones
continued to show strong growth. In general,
the service continued to be highly rated by its
audiences for objectivity, relevance and value.
BBC World Service Radio in the UK is available
on DAB radio, digital TV and online. It is alsobroadcast overnight on BBC Radio 4. This
year some 1.5 million people in the UK listenedeach week.
Under the licence fee settlement agreed in
2010, from 2014/15 onwards, the BBC World
Service will be funded by the licence fee. We willcontinue to monitor performance of the service
as an important part of the BBC’s remit to serve
global audiences.

BBC News remains themost trusted source fornews in the UK

Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-15

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the TrustSERVING ALL AUDIENCES

The universal nature of the licence fee means that the BBC needs toreflect the diversity of licence fee payers, in both its programmes and its
workforce. It also means that getting BBC services to everyone free atthe point of use and in a way that is convenient for them will always bea priority for the Trust.
The Xbox iPlayer home screen. Ourrevised syndication policy allows BBC
content to be accessed through a wide
range of platforms and devices.

The BBC has made good
progress on out-of-London
production targets

Getting the BBC’s services to the whole
population; ensuring there is something foreveryone; representing the whole of the UK in its
output – these are the principles we have set out
for serving all the BBC’s audiences.
Portraying our audiences
We monitor through our Purpose Remit Survey
how different communities and parts of the UK
are portrayed in the BBC’s programmes. We
know that while the BBC is generally highly rated
by audiences across the UK, these ratings arelower further away from London. The Executive
is working hard to address this challenge, andthis year the BBC published commitments forEngland, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland,setting out in more detail how it will serve
audiences in each nation. The Trust agreed to
BBC targets for network television spend out
of London, and we are pleased that the BBC
has made good progress with 41% of spend
out of London against a target of 50% by 2016,
and 16.3% in Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland against a target of 12% by 2012 (17%by 2016).
A BBC representative of all licencefee payers
To represent licence fee payers effectively, theBBC itself should reflect the diversity of the
UK. This year the Executive published Telling
our Story: Equality and diversity at the BBC. It
explains how the BBC is meeting its equality and1-16 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

diversity objectives, and provides information
about the profile of employees in six categories(age, ethnicity, disability, gender, religion/belief andsexual orientation). In January the Executive also
published specific equality objectives to underpin
the BBC’s diversity strategy. The Trust will reporton its progress next year.
As noted in our report, Observations on the BBC
Executive’s arrangements for promoting equal
opportunities in employment, the Trust welcomes
the work that has been done on improving theBBC’s monitoring of its workforce and increasing
staff engagement. In the coming year, the Trust
has asked the Executive to focus on several
areas including the number of disabled staff andrepresentation of women in higher grades.
Getting services to all licence fee payers
The BBC has a responsibility to make its content
available on a range of platforms that areconvenient and cost effective. In an increasinglyinterconnected world, with a multiplicity ofplatforms and devices, getting the BBC’scontent from where it is made to whereaudiences expect to find it is an ever more
complex undertaking.
This growing complexity is challenging at a time
when everyone, including the BBC, has to findways of doing more with less. When we set out
the BBC’s strategy in December 2010 we asked
the Executive to serve all audiences in ways thatwill safeguard easy, accessible routes

Overview | BBC
BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the Trust

to BBC content, sustaining high quality free-to-air
platforms while investing in new technologies
where there is public value in doing so.
The BBC gets content to audiences in two
ways: through traditional linear broadcast andonline infrastructure (‘distribution’) and by
making on-demand content available to otherplatform owners and device manufacturers(‘syndication’). The latter is increasingly importantas people switch to new kinds of devices, andwant to access BBC content through them.
Distribution
As the BBC completes digital switchover – theconversion of the UK’s terrestrial analogue
television system to digital – some consolidationof the BBC’s digital services to make more
efficient use of resources has been agreed inprinciple by the Trust. We will see a phased
reduction of Red Button after the Olympics,
while the BBC HD channel will be replaced witha single BBC Two in high definition. During theyear we considered the BBC’s participation in the
YouView joint venture and concluded that it met
the conditions we set out in our final ‘Canvas’
approvals in 2010.
In radio, the Trust approved plans in 2010 for
the BBC to extend national DAB coverage
to 97% of UK households by the end of thecurrent Charter period. In June 2011 the Trust
approved the launch of a temporary DAB radio
service – BBC 5 Live Olympics Extra – to offer
additional coverage of the London Olympics.
During the last year the Trust continued tosupport the Executive in planning a strong future
for local DAB with partners in commercial radio,
Government and industry.
As the BBC continues to adapt to the new digital
media and broadcasting landscape, it faces newchallenges. For example, making programmes
accessible over broadband (such as throughthe iPlayer) offers great benefits to audiences
but also adds new costs. We recognise thestrategic importance of the BBC keeping up
with technological developments to ensure
audiences are able to access BBC content
wherever and however they choose, but
we will continue to monitor developments inthis area and encourage the BBC to researcheven more efficient ways of distributing content
to audiences.
Syndication
The Trust’s syndication policy explains how
content should be made available on otherplatforms and devices. It was originally set in2007 when the iPlayer was launched. Since then,the media landscape has changed. Althoughtraditional live broadcasting through televisionand radio is still the norm, audience expectationsof access to BBC content when and where theywant it have grown enormously – the iPlayer

is now available on a range of platforms, andon hundreds of devices.
The Trust led the work to update the policy,
which included liaising with the Executive andholding a public consultation to ensure theviews of industry and licence fee payers wereconsidered. The revised policy was launched in
February 2012. At its heart are audience-facing
principles – for instance, that content should
be high quality and accessible free of charge.
While the Trust does not seek to impose asingle technical solution for syndication, we
believe these principles will best be served byoffering would-be partners direct access to thefull range of BBC content, via their platform or
device, within a BBC environment. This currently
means a standard BBC product, such as theiPlayer, delivered over the internet, although thepolicy will also enable the BBC to adapt to meetlicence fee payers’ future needs in delivering ondemand content to a broad range of platforms
and devices.

Our syndication principles
will best be served byoffering would-be partners
direct access to the fullrange of BBC content, via
their platform or device,
within a BBC environment

Strategic objective
DO MORE TO SERVE ALL AUDIENCES
This year the BBC made good progress in some areas as it continues to work
towards this challenging objective.
Reach of BBC services

96%
Reach of BBC services remains almost
universal with 96% of the audience using
BBC TV, Radio or Online each week.1
1

BBC Cross Media Insight Survey.

Out of London

Access to BBC services

93%
Over 93% of the UK now has access to DAB
radio. This year there were improvements
to BBC Radio Wales’ FM coverage, and BBC
ALBA launched on Freeview and Virgin Media
cable in Scotland.

Representing the nations
and regions

41%
This year 41% of network TV spend was
produced out of London, against a targetof 50% by 2016.

47%
Audiences still feel the BBC could do more
to represent their nation or region. 47% of
UK adults believe that the BBC performs
well in representing their nation or region.2
2

Purpose remit study 2011/12.

Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-17

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the Trust

SECURING EDITORIAL STANDARDS

Maintaining the highest editorial standards is fundamental to people’s trustin the BBC, and ensuring the BBC lives up to these standards is therefore
one of the Trust’s most important roles.

Jeremy Bowen and Rob Magee
reporting near Misrata, Libya. This year
we reviewed the impartiality of theBBC’s coverage of the ‘Arab Spring’.

The BBC’s Editorial Guidelines are the key
foundation for the maintenance of high editorial
standards in everything broadcast or producedby the BBC. These Guidelines cover a range ofstandards including those relating to impartiality,
harm and offence, accuracy, fairness, privacy
and children and young people. The Trust hasvarious ways of ensuring that the BBC lives up tothese standards, such as acting as final arbiter oncomplaints and holding impartiality reviews on
specific topics.
Impartiality
In October 2011 the Trust launched the latest in
our series of reviews on the impartiality of theBBC’s output, namely of the events known as
the ‘Arab Spring’. The review was led by EdwardMortimer, former Senior Vice President of the
Salzburg Global Seminar, former UN Directorof Communications and an expert in Middle
East affairs. It looked at the BBC’s network andworld news coverage beginning with events in
Tunisia in December 2010 and, following on from
that, most notably in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria
and Yemen.
The review included a report by EdwardMortimer; content analysis and audience
research. The Trust considers the coverageof this series of events was generally impartial.
However, coverage could have been fuller invarious geographical areas at different times;

1-18 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

some countries had little coverage, others
could have been followed up more fully andthere could have been fuller examination of thedifferent voices which make up the opposition
to incumbent governments. The Executive has
agreed to create a stand-back item at the News
Board on such major stories and to look at thestrategic guidance the Middle East Editor canoffer. The Director of News will report backto the Trust in 2012 on her further conclusions
on strategic decision-making in relation tothis report.
We also announced a new initiative for a seriesof impartiality seminars to look at topical issues,complementing the existing impartiality reviews.
The first seminar will look at economic reporting.

Overview | BBC
BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the Trust

Dealing with complaints
An effective complaints process is essential if
the BBC is to be accountable to licence fee
payers. In July 2011, a review of the BBC’s
governance concluded that the complaints
process should be ‘faster, simpler and easier tounderstand’. This year, therefore, we reviewed
the complaints process, for which the Trust has
overall responsibility. This included consulting the
public on the main changes being proposed, andaudience research to make sure we understood
what licence fee payers wanted. As a result,the BBC now has a new complaints procedure,
starting in summer 2012, which should deliverclear, fair, efficient and timely complaints handlingfor licence fee payers.
Findings by the ESC this year
For editorial complaints, the complaints system
has three stages. The first stage of responding to
a complaint is usually handled by BBC Audience
Services. If complainants are not satisfied withthe response at stage one, they may escalate it.
Complaints on editorial issues are then handled
by the Editorial Complaints Unit, and others by
relevant senior managers within the BBC.
The final stage covers those appeals which
complainants wish to escalate to stage three.
These are managed by the Trust through the
Editorial Standards Committee (ESC), which isthe final arbiter in the BBC’s complaints process.
This year the ESC received 240 requests forappeal; 77 of these were put before the ESC
as full appeals. The Trust Unit decided thatthe others should not proceed to the ESC
as it was felt they did not have a reasonable
prospect of success. Some of these decisions
were subsequently challenged and thesechallenges were also put before the ESC.
Therefore in total the ESC dealt with 194
cases. Of these, 86% were handled within thetarget timeframe for editorial appeals (16 weeks
from acceptance of the appeal), slightly up from84% last year. Of the 77 full appeals, three were
upheld, 23 were partially upheld and 51 were
not upheld. The ESC also considered breaches
reported by the Executive.

Among the significant findings in this period were:• BBC World News: the ESC concluded that asmall number of programmes broadcast on
BBC World News between February 2009
and July 2011 broke rules regarding sponsorshipand conflicts of interest that aim to protect
the BBC’s editorial integrity. The ESC agreed
that these breaches were serious and the BBC
broadcast an apology. BBC World News has
since confirmed it will no longer commission
or acquire programmes sponsored by noncommercial organisations (such as charitablefoundations) and has taken other steps tosafeguard the BBC’s impartiality and protect
against conflicts of interest.
• BBC News at Ten, 12 August 2011: the ESC
concluded that this report broadcast output
which might lead to the identification of ayoung person (under the age of 18) concernedin youth court proceedings, which is prohibitedby the law. The Executive was required toensure that staff fully understand and abideby the BBC’s obligations to protect children inyouth court proceedings from identification.
• Top Gear proposal for a branded TomTom: the
ESC found that a commercial deal which had
been agreed with TomTom for the productionof a Top Gear-branded satellite navigation
device breached the BBC’s guidelines on
conflicts of interest. This was because thepresenter of Top Gear could not be seen to
endorse an individual car-related product inwhich the BBC had a commercial interest.
It would also place editorial constraints on
the Top Gear programme. The ESC notedthat the deal had been halted in its proposed
form by the Director-General and agreed
that the breach of Guidelines had not been
deliberate. The Executive has since taken
steps to increase staff’s understanding of what
constitutes a conflict of interest, and to tighten
up existing protocols.

An effective complaints
process is essential if the
BBC is to be accountable
to licence fee payers

Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-19

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside the Trust

TRADING FAIRLY
We have a duty to ensure that when the BBC spends licence fee payers’
money, it considers its competitive impact on the wider market andconducts its business openly and transparently. The Trust is satisfied that thisyear the BBC continued to operate fairly within the fair trading framework.

The Trust is satisfied
that the BBC is operatingin compliance with its
fair trading policies
and framework

It is important that we
ensure our fair tradingarrangements remain up
to date, and this year wepublished updated andsimplified policies

1-20 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

The Trust’s fair trading policies and framework
are designed to ensure that the BBC operates
within the law and in accordance with its Charterand Agreement and the requirements of theTrust. At the heart of our fair trading policies isthe expectation that in all its activities, the BBC
will have regard to its impact on the market. Thisis essential if the public and industry are to trust
the BBC, and is even more important today as
the media and our industry change rapidly.
The Executive is responsible for day-to-day
compliance with fair trading requirements.
This year, it took on the responsibility forcommissioning the BBC’s annual independent
audit of its fair trading framework and processes
for the preceding year. As in previous years theauditors have issued an unqualified audit opinion
which can be read in full in Part Two of thisAnnual Report.
Whereas the Executive considers fair trading
complaints about the BBC in the first instance,
the Trust, through the Complaints and Appeals
Board, is the final appeal body. In 2011/12, nofair trading appeals to the Trust were madeby complainants.
Given the changing media landscape, it isimportant that we ensure our fair tradingarrangements remain up to date, and continue
to reflect our principles as the industry develops.
During 2010/11 we carried out the first triennial
review of the Trust’s fair trading policies and in
November 2011, we published an updated andsimplified set of fair trading policies which set out
how the BBC should behave when interactingwith the wider market. Prior to this in July, we
also published our review of governance which
set out more clearly the roles and responsibilitiesof the Trust and the Executive in delivering
public services in a way that both furthers the
public interest and respects the markets inwhich we operate.

Revised fair trading policies
and framework
In updating our fair trading policies andframework we brought together a numberof separate documents into one, and sought toprovide a clearer explanation of the different
processes the Trust uses to fulfil its duty inconsidering the BBC’s competitive impact. These
clarifications include how the BBC should carryout proportionate assessments of its competitive
impact on others, and how it should ensurethat where the BBC’s editorial and fair trading
guidelines make reference to each other, thatthese references are regularly reviewed andupdated. We also updated our competitive
impact code on cross-promotion to ensurethat online cross-promotions make appropriate
references to the wider number of digitalplatforms on which the BBC’s services are
now delivered.
Improving corporate governanceIn keeping with the Trust’s strategic role insetting the overall policy framework for fairtrading, we asked the Executive to take greater
responsibility for day-to-day fair trading matters,
including commissioning the annual fair trading
audit. The non-executive directors who workon fair trading within the BBC will now havea more direct relationship with the Trust to
help strengthen the independence of the
Executive’s fair trading function in ensuring
fair trading compliance.
Over the next year, the Trust will work with the
Executive to embed these new processes which
will help strengthen the BBC’s ability to trade
fairly and retain the confidence of the public
and the rest of the media industry.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO AUDIENCES
The Trust’s duty is to represent all licence fee payers. To do so wemust engage with audiences across the UK, through our Audience
Councils, research and consultations, so that we may understandtheir views and take them into account in making our decisions.
We must also be open and transparent about how we work andthe decisions we make.
The ‘Proms’, broadcast live on BBC
Radio 3 and in high-definition soundat bbc.co.uk/proms, brings classicaland new music to a broader audience.

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability
Accountability to audiencesaudiences | Inside the Trust

TRANSPARENCY
As a public body the BBC has a responsibility to operate as transparently
as possible. The Trust takes this duty seriously and has tasked the BBC
with setting new standards in openness and transparency. We also aim
to be open about how we work and the decisions we make.

We consult licence fee
payers and industry on
important decisions

The BBC now provides more information on its
current and planned activities and how it spends
the licence fee.
Since 2009 the BBC has published the exact
salaries and total remuneration for its mostsenior managers because the public expects the
BBC to be transparent about executive pay. The
expenses, hospitality received, register of gifts
and any declarations of personal interests of thisgroup are also published on a quarterly basis. The
BBC now also discloses on its website the pay ofall other senior managers in £5,000 bands andby generic job title and by division.
This year, at our request, the Executive began
publishing updates showing how it is performing
against some of its key objectives. Moredetailed information about the BBC’s current
and planned activities is in the 2012/13 summary
work plan which describes the BBC’s strategy,
objectives and outline budget for the year ahead.
Next year we will continue to find new ways ofoperating transparently while still delivering value
for money and meeting our objectives.

Strategic objective
SET NEW STANDARDS IN OPENNESSAND TRANSPARENCY
This year the BBC published more information than before on its current
and planned activities and how it spends the licence fee.

A summary work planand budget.

Senior manager pay
and talent costs.

Quarterly audience
figures for BBC
services.

Quarterly information
on senior manager
expenses, gift registers,
hospitality and declarationsof personal interest.

The Executive ran
a series of industry
briefings about
BBC Online.

The Trust organiseda series of media
industry roundtablediscussions.

1-22 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

An open BBC Trust
The BBC Trust is directly accountable to licencefee payers; this is essential to maintaining theBBC’s independence. With direct accountability
comes a responsibility to operate transparently.
We consult licence fee payers and industry
on important decisions, we conduct audience
research and we use our network of Audience
Councils to help keep us informed on the viewsof licence fee payers across the UK.
When we make a decision, we publish evidence
and explain our conclusions. We publish
the findings of editorial appeal decisions, theoutcomes of value-for-money and service licence
reviews and the minutes of our monthly Trust
meetings. All of this information is available on
our website.
Trust work plan 2012/13
We also aim to be open about our futureplans. Each year on our website we publish an
overview of the work we know we can plan forin the coming year.
Our priority in 2012/13 is to keep the BBC
focused on delivering its four strategic objectives.
We will help it do so with the following planned
work: reviewing BBC Online in autumn 2012
and the BBC’s output for children (CBBC and
CBeebies) in early 2013; undertaking our thirdbiannual review of the Window of Creative
Competition in autumn 2012; overseeing thedelivery of annual efficiency savings of 11% by
2016/17; and receiving NAO reports on theeffectiveness of the BBC’s financial management
systems and on the BBC’s move of a number of
departments to Media City in Salford.
The Trust is the guardian of licence fee revenue
and the public interest in the BBC. This year we
will therefore oversee implementation of the
new financial settlement and ensure that the
governance and funding arrangements for theBBC’s new obligations are in the best interestsof licence fee payers.

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability
Accountability to audiencesaudiences | Inside the Trust

UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCES
The Trust makes decisions about the BBC that affect audiences and otherstakeholders, including the wider communications industry. It is important,
therefore, that we know what they think so we can take this into
consideration – and then communicate with them about these decisions.
This year the key areas we sought input into were our service reviews, andthe BBC’s proposed future strategy.

To understand audiences’ and professional
stakeholders’ views, we carry out a programmeof consultations, research and engagement
and take advice from our Audience Councils in
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Public consultations
In the past 12 months the Trust has undertakeneight public consultations as part of ourprogramme of service reviews, strategic reviews
and changes to policy guidelines. We also
publicly consulted on the Executive’s proposals
to implement the BBC’s new strategy, in
response to the 2010 funding settlement – as we
promised we would. We received over 30,000
responses from the public to our consultations
this year, alongside many responses fromorganisations (including industry bodies, charities,
interest groups and others).
This year, we promoted the consultations on
the BBC’s airwaves strongly than ever before.
We ran campaigns across the television channels
and radio stations, both nationally and locally,
and on BBC Online. The public consultationon the strategy was publicised on all the BBC
television networks, the majority of the radio
networks and on bbc.co.uk. The television
campaign alone is estimated to have been seenby 24.2 million adults (42% of the UK population).
Our consultation on the BBC’s Asian Network
allowed for people to respond in Hindi, Urdu,
Bengali, Punjabi and Gujarati.
The responses we received helped to shape ourfindings and recommendations. In particular, thestrong response we had to the proposals for
BBC Local Radio was instrumental in ourdecision to require the Executive to scale backthe proposed changes.

This year we again tracked perceptions of theBBC’s delivery of its public purposes througha survey of over 2,000 adults. For our service
reviews, we commission a mix of quantitativeand qualitative research to understand the viewsof audiences of those services. This year wecommissioned research among audiences of
BBC Local Radio, BBC Radio 5 Live andthe BBC’s News and Parliament channels
to supplement the findings from our public
consultations on these services.
For our review of the BBC Asian Network wecarried out qualitative and quantitative researchusing a specialist agency with niche audiencesfrom a range of ethnic backgrounds, focusing on
the UK’s main South Asian population groups(British Indian, British Pakistani and British
Bangladeshi). Qualitative research was also an
important part of our impartiality review of
the BBC’s coverage of the events known as
the ‘Arab Spring’.
Engaging stakeholders across the UK
We continue to engage industry and otherstakeholders to ensure we understand theinterests of the wider media industry and thepotential impact of our decisions. As part of thedeliberations around implementing the BBC’s
strategy, we held a series of roundtables with awide range of stakeholders from across the UK,
exploring particular aspects of the proposals
from the impact on production in the devolved
nations to that of local journalism in England.

The strong response toproposals about BBC Local
Radio was instrumental in
our decision to require the
Executive to scale back the
proposed changes

Members of the public filling in a BBC
Trust public consultation questionnaire.

Audience research
To ensure that we represent and reflect theviews of all audiences, not just those who takepart in consultations, we commission researchamongst a wider range of licence fee payers.
This includes nationally representative surveys
to enable us to understand the strength of views
across the UK and to appreciate any differences
between diverse groups of people. It also
includes bespoke research – both quantitativeand qualitative.
Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-23

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability
Accountability to audiencesaudiences | Inside the Trust

AUDIENCE COUNCILS
Chaired by their National Trustees, Audience Councils in England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland advise the Trust on the perspectives of licencefee payers, and comment on how well different parts of the UK feel the
BBC is performing. This year work focused on the changes proposed by
the BBC following the new licence fee settlement.

Councils welcomed
Executive research on
how different age groups
are served, and an increasein network broadcasts
of programmes madein English regions

Councils are recruited to reflect the diversityof the UK, and members are volunteers. Theylisten to audiences’ views, and identify issues ofimportance which the Trust can address. They
meet regularly to prepare their advice andwe consult them on proposed major changes
to the BBC’s services and strategy. The fourCouncils meet together annually to discuss
issues relevant to audiences across the UK.
Listening to audiences
This year, Councils held meetings with licencefee payers specifically to consult them on theperformance of the BBC’s radio stations for
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, on BBC
Local Radio and on the BBC Asian Network.
Members from each Council met to discuss
the reviews of BBC Radio 5 Live and the BBC’s
News and Parliament channels with service
controllers before finalising their advice tothe Trust.

was a significant improvement in access to
BBC Radio Wales on FM, BBC ALBA wasmade available on Freeview, and Councils haveasked for a strategy for the roll-out of services
for nations and regions on HD. The Trust’s
reviews of the nations’ radio services focused, as
Councils had suggested, on how they supported
citizenship and civil society. Councils also wanted
the BBC to improve how it portrays thecontemporary UK, and so welcomed Executive
research on how different age groups areserved, and an increase in network broadcasts
of programmes made in English regions.

Advising the Trust
Key audience issues included the importance of
maintaining regional sports coverage in England;
accountability arrangements for the Welsh
language channel S4C (to be funded largely fromthe licence fee from 2013/14); the sustainabilityof network production in Northern Ireland; andthe loss of some radio networks from Freeview
Performance against 2011/12
in Scotland. Councils presented responses on theaudience priorities
BBC’s proposals for implementing its strategy,
Councils said licence fee payers wanted improved
raising concerns on proposed programme
access to BBC services. During the year, there
sharing between local radio stations in Englandand the future of opt-out programming on BBC
Two in the nations.
Delivering the public purposes
Audience Council England noted concerns
about the potential loss of regional current
affairs programming, and the impact on local
democracy. Councils in Scotland and Northern
Ireland highlighted concerns with the way that the
BBC portrayed their nations and communities
to a UK-wide audience. Audience Council Wales
considered that core services for Wales in both
Welsh and English should be strengthened.

Audience Council members discuss
their views with the Trust.

1-24 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

Priorities for 2012/13
Councils want the BBC to set out a strategy
for nations and English opt-out TV programmes
on HD across the UK which will safeguard therange and quality of content. They would like
BBC News to do more to compare public
policy differences between the nations. Councils
welcome the BBC’s proposal to broadcast
more nations’ programmes on the networks,
while ensuring that their cultural distinctivenessis preserved. Further details of the Councils’
advice to the Trust can be found in their own
annual reviews.

INSIDE THE TRUSTThe BBC Trust, as the governing body of the BBC, is separate
from the Executive which manages the BBC’s day-to-day
operations. Here you can find details of the Trustees and theirremuneration and an explanation of how we run the Trust in
the interests of all licence fee payers.
Chairman Lord Patten with Vice
Chairman Diane Coyle at the BBC’s
New Broadcasting House in London.

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside
Inside thetheTrust
Trust

BBC TRUSTEES
Trustees are part time and come from a variety of backgrounds,
bringing a wide range of experience to the BBC. Trustees are appointed
by the Queen on advice from ministers, following an open appointments
procedure. Among the Trustees we have a Chairman, a Vice Chairman,
and a National Trustee for each of England, Scotland, Wales andNorthern Ireland.

Lord Patten of Barnes CH, Chairman
Chairman as of 1 May 2011.
Other roles: Chancellor, University of Oxford;
Co-Chair, UK India Round Table; Nonexecutive director, Russell Reynolds Associates;
International Advisory Board member, BP;
Stakeholder Advisory Panel member, EDF.

David Liddiment
Chairs Audiences and Performance Committee.
Led Trust’s review of the BBC News Channel
and BBC Parliament.
Other roles: Non-executive director, All3Media;
Associate, Old Vic Theatre Company; Chair,
Hepworth Wakefield Gallery.

Diane Coyle OBE, Vice Chairman
Chairs Strategy and Approvals Committee. Lead
Trustee on commercial issues and Annual Reportand Accounts.
Other roles: Director, Enlightenment Economics;
Member, Migration Advisory Committee;
Stakeholder Advisory Panel member, EDF.

Bill Matthews
Trustee for Scotland (chairs Audience Council
Scotland).
Other roles: Director, M2M2 Limited; Chairman,
NHS National Services Scotland; Non-executive
director, Security Industry Authority; Chairman,
Crimestoppers Scotland.

Richard Ayre
Chairs Complaints and Appeals Board. Lead
Trustee on transparency issues and complaints
framework.
Other roles: Freedom of Information
Adjudicator, The Law Society.

Mehmuda Mian
Chaired the General Appeals Panel. Lead Trustee
for equality and diversity issues. Led Trust’s
review of BBC Local Radio and the BBC Asian
Network. Other roles: Non-executive director,
Independent Safeguarding Authority; Associate
director, Lokahi Foundation.

Anthony Fry
Chairs Trust Finance Committee. Lead Trustee
for fair trading and value-for-money reviews.
Other roles: Chairman, Espírito Santo UK, Dairy
Crest, and CALA; Non-executive director,
Control Risks, Twig Rights Ltd.
Alison Hastings
Trustee for England (chairs Audience Council
England); chairs Editorial Standards Committee.
Led Trust’s review of BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC
5 Live Sports Extra.
Other roles: Vice President, British Board ofFilm Classification; Retained consultant andtrainer, Press Complaints Commission; Retained
consultant, Camelot.
Rotha Johnston CBETrustee for Northern Ireland (chairs Audience
Council Northern Ireland); lead Trustee on
property issues.
Other roles: Partner, Johnston Partnership; Nonexecutive director, AIB (UK) plc; Pro-Chancellor,
Queen’s University, Belfast.

Elan Closs Stephens CBE
Trustee for Wales (chairs Audience
Council Wales).
Other roles: Professor, Aberystwyth University;
Non-executive director and chair, Corporate
Governance, Welsh Assembly Government;
Non-executive director, IMAX Waterloo for BFI.
Suzanna Taverne
Trustee as of 1 January 2012.
Other roles: Non-executive director,
Nationwide, Ford Credit Europe; Trustee,Consumer Credit Counselling Service,
Shakespeare Schools Festival; Advisory board
member, Manchester Business School.
Lord Williams of Baglan
Trustee as of 1 December 2011.
Chairs International Services Committee.
Other roles: Distinguished Visiting Fellow,
Chatham House; Member of the international
advisory board, Toledo CITPAX, Toledo
International Centre for Peace.
This reflects the membership of the Trustat 21 June 2012. There were no vacancies
at this time.

1-26 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside
InsidethetheTrust
Trust

Lord Patten of Barnes CH
Chairman

Diane Coyle OBE
Vice Chairman

Richard Ayre

Anthony Fry

Alison Hastings
EnglandRotha Johnston CBE
Northern IrelandDavid LiddimentBill Matthews
ScotlandMehmuda Mian

Elan Closs Stephens CBE
Wales

Suzanna Taverne

Lord Williams of Baglan

Trustee changes during the year
Sir Michael Lyons’ term as Chairman ended on 30 April 2011. Dame Patricia Hodgson stood down as a Trustee on 6 June 2011.
Lord Patten’s term as Chairman began on 1 May 2011. Diane Coyle’s term as Vice Chairman began on 1 May 2011.
Lord Williams’ term as Trustee began on 1 December 2011. Suzanna Taverne’s term as Trustee began on 1 January 2012.

Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-27

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside
Inside thetheTrust
Trust

GOVERNANCE
How we work is just as important as what we do. Our processes are
therefore as open and transparent as possible. As well as this Annual
Report, we publish reports and findings in full on our website. We aresupported by the Trust Unit, members of staff giving us independent
advice on our duties and responsibilities.

The duties and responsibilities of the Trust
are outlined in the BBC’s Royal Charter andaccompanying Framework Agreement. We
have a series of protocols supplementing these
documents. They provide more detail on how
we carry out our duties and responsibilities
and, where necessary, explain the duties andresponsibilities of the Executive Board. You canfind all of these documents on our website.
Our regular business is undertaken in monthly
meetings of the full Trust and some subcommittees. At these meetings we makedecisions relating to our duties and responsibilities
and consider proposals from the Executive
Board. We publish the minutes of our monthly
Trust meetings on our website.
Review of BBC governanceThis year, following his appointment, theChairman undertook a review of the BBC’s
governance arrangements to establish
whether they could be improved within theframework of the current Royal Charter.
The review concluded that governance of the
BBC is workable, generally effective and provides
benefits to licence fee payers and the industry
but made some recommendations intended tostrengthen the current arrangements. We took
action in the following areas:• a clearer division of responsibilities between
the Trust and the Executive Board• a wider market impact role for Ofcom• an improved editorial complaints andcompliance system, and more regularimpartiality reviews• simplifying the governance of BBC services
We believe that the BBC’s governance systems
are now more clearly understood outside andinside the organisation. In implementing theconclusions of the review, this year the Trust has:
• worked closely with the Executive Board to
be clearer about the strategic responsibilitiesof the Trust while leaving more operational
matters to the Executive Board• amended the Memorandum of Understanding
with Ofcom to enable the Trust to take
Ofcom’s views on market impact into accountin a wider range of circumstances

1-28 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12• reformed the BBC’s complaints system tomake it faster, simpler and easier to understand• commenced a programme of impartiality
seminars to complement the Trust’s regularreviews of impartiality of the BBC’s output• established a new International Services
Committee to oversee the governanceand funding arrangements for the BBC
World Service• decided not to re-commission ‘purpose
plans’, and agreed a simpler approach toservice reviews
S4C Partnership
In October 2011 agreement was reached
between the S4C Authority, BBC Trust andthe UK Government on the future funding,governance and accountability of S4C until 2017,
following the announcement that S4C would
be funded from the licence fee from 2013.
These arrangements protect the editorial andmanagerial independence of S4C and safeguard
appropriate accountability to the BBC Trust for
the licence fee funding.
The Trust Unit
We are supported in our work by the Trust
Unit, which provides independent and objective
advice, calling on outside experts whennecessary. The Unit is made up of BBC staff who
are independent of the Executive and report
directly to us. It includes professional staff withexpertise across a range of disciplines, including
corporate governance, policy development,
audience research, financial and performance
analysis, economics and law. The Unit advises us
on our duties, manages the Trust’s supervisory
and regulatory functions, and provides the Trustwith independent assessments of proposals fromthe Executive Board. Most Unit staff are basedin London; others are based in offices in Belfast,
Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow.

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside
InsidethetheTrust
Trust

Trust committees
We do much of our work through committees,
which can make certain decisions on behalf of
the Trust as a whole. During the year, we madea number of changes to the committee structure
to take account of the final conclusions of theTrust’s governance review. We amended theremits of some committees and established theInternational Services Committee to help theTrust to develop the strategy for, and assess theperformance of, the BBC’s international public
services. The members of each committee andtheir attendance during 2011/12 are shown in
the table on page 1-31. You can find the termsof reference for each of the Trust’s committees
on our website.

Editorial standards are enshrined in the BBC’s
Editorial Guidelines. The Trust asks the Executive
Board to prepare draft Guidelines and, if content,
the Trust then formally approves them. The
ESC is the final appeal body within the BBC indetermining whether the Editorial Guidelines
have been followed.
The ESC also manages the Trust’s programmeof impartiality reviews.
Finance and Compliance Committee(until November 2011)
Trust Finance Committee(from December 2011)
Chair (until December 2011): Rotha Johnston
Chair (from January 2012): Anthony Fry

Audiences and Performance Committee
Chair: David Liddiment

The Finance and Compliance Committee (FCC)
was renamed the Trust Finance Committee(TFC) in December 2011 in line with the
The Audiences and Performance Committee
conclusions of the governance review. The(APC) is responsible for developing thecommittee is responsible for matters of financestrategy for, and assessing the performance of,and value for money.
the BBC’s UK public services on behalf of the
The TFC examines the BBC’s annual budget
Trust. It monitors how the BBC is delivering its
from the Executive Board before it goes topublic purposes.
the Trust and scrutinises major BBC financial
The APC assesses the performance of the BBC’s decisions which meet particular Trust monetaryservices against their service licences, including
thresholds. It also manages the Trust’s
oversight of the Trust’s programme of service
programme of value-for-money studies and isreviews. The Trust undertakes a service review
responsible for ensuring that recommendationsof each of the BBC’s UK public services atfrom the studies are implemented by theleast once every five years.
Executive Board. The TFC also oversees
the Executive’s internal control and risk
The APC is also responsible for the Trust’s
management functions.
programme of audience research and public
consultation.
International Services Committee(from February 2012)
Audience Councils Committee
Chair: Lord Williams
Chair: Diane Coyle
The Audience Councils Committee (ACC)brings together the Vice Chairman and the fourNational Trustees to oversee and co-ordinate
the contributions of the BBC’s Audience Councils
as advisory bodies to the Trust. Its role is toensure that issues identified by the Audience
Councils are dealt with appropriately by theTrust and that the Councils work within theirremits. The ACC also approves membershipof the Audience Councils.

The International Services Committee wasformed in February 2012 and is responsible
for helping the Trust to develop the strategy
for, and assess the performance of, the BBC’sinternational public services. The BBC’sinternational public services consist of the BBC
World Service, BBC World News and BBC
Monitoring.

Editorial Standards Committee
Chair: Alison Hastings
The Editorial Standards Committee (ESC)
is responsible, on behalf of the Trust, forestablishing the BBC’s editorial standards andassessing all the BBC’s services for compliancewith these standards.
Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-29

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside
Inside thetheTrust
Trust

GOVERNANCECONTINUED

adjudicator, who is a senior member of Trust
Unit staff. In 2011/12 the Trust Unit received 71
TV Licensing, fair trading and general appeals,of which six were heard by the CAB as fullappeals (four being partially upheld and two
being not upheld). None of the full appeals werehandled within the target timeframe since they
The Remuneration and Appointments
were complex.
Committee (RAC) manages the Trust’s
The work of the CAB is carried out by its Chair
responsibilities concerning Executive Board
or Vice Chair sitting with two or more other
remuneration and appointments. The RAC
Trustees, selected case by case.
oversees executive remuneration strategy andmakes recommendations to the Trust on the pay The Trust set up one ad hoc appeals panel
and benefits of the Director-General and the
between 1 April 2011 and 31 March 2012 to hear
non-executive directors of the Executive Board. an appeal regarding the BBC’s election coverage.
However, pay and benefits of the executive
For this meeting, panel members were: Alison
directors are determined by the Executive
Hastings (Chair); Richard Ayre; David Liddiment;
Board’s Remuneration Committee, which
Mehmuda Mian and Bill Matthews.
consists entirely of non-executive directors.
Assessing our own performance
We have a commitment to review annually
Strategic Approvals Committee
our own performance, including that of each
(until November 2011)
committee, and to summarise our findings inStrategy and Approvals CommitteetheAnnual Report.
(from December 2011)
Chair: Diane Coyle
We spent the last year focusing on setting thefuture strategy for the BBC and ensuring thatits plans could be delivered within the available
resources, and during this process we worked
The Strategic Approvals Committee wasrenamed the Strategy and Approvals Committee well with the Executive Board. We will continue
to oversee implementation of the BBC’s strategy,(SAC) in December 2011, reflecting a remit
more focused on strategy and commercial issues. ensuring it is done in the interests of licence
The SAC considers proposals from the Executive fee payers.
We also concluded the first round of our
Board, including for new services or changes
programme of service reviews. Through thisto existing services, except those proposed aswork we held the Executive to account andpart of a service review (which are consideredbased our decisions on what audiences told us
by the APC). It considers whether a public
while taking into account the views of industry
value test (PVT) is required and advises therepresentatives and BBC staff. We believe that
Trust accordingly. The SAC manages any PVT
we carried out decision-making effectively and,or other consideration of a proposal from thealthough there is always room for operational
Executive and makes recommendations toimprovements, we dealt with the flow of
the Trust on possible outcomes. The SAC also
business efficiently. Our work plan for 2012/13
oversees the BBC’s commercial strategy andindividual proposals where these are of strategic is published on our website and identifies what
we will focus on in the coming year.
significance or of high value.
Remuneration and Appointments
Committee
Chair (until April 2011): Sir Michael Lyons
Chair (from May 2011): Lord Patten

General Appeals Panel(until November 2011)
Complaints and Appeals Board(from December 2011)
Chair (until November 2011): Mehmuda Mian
Chair (from December 2011): Richard Ayre
The Complaints and Appeals Board (CAB)
was formed in December 2011 and replaced
the General Appeals Panel (GAP). The CAB
has a broader remit than the GAP had andhears complaints relating to non-editorial issues,
including fair trading, TV Licensing complaints,
and other matters. The CAB also notes decisions
on appeals about the Digital Switchover Help
Scheme (DSHS) made by the DSHS appeals
1-30 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

Register of interests
Our Code of Practice requires us to maintainand publish a register of all external interests thatmight be seen to affect our ability to perform theduties of a BBC Trustee. This register includes
declarations of all positions of employment,
directorships and voluntary positions as wellas interests of close family members, if relevant.
The Trust’s register of interests is publishedon our website.

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside
InsidethetheTrust
Trust

Trustees’ attendance at meetings (1 April 2011 – 31 March 2012)

Audiences andEditorial
PerformanceStandards
Trust Committee Committee

Chairman
Lord Patten
Sir Michael Lyons
Vice Chairman
Diane Coyle
National Trustees
Alison Hastings (England)
Rotha Johnston (Northern
Ireland)Bill Matthews (Scotland)
Elan Closs Stephens (Wales)
Trustees
Richard Ayre
Anthony Fry
Dame Patricia Hodgson
David Liddiment
Mehmuda Mian
Suzanna Taverne
Lord Williams

Finance andCompliance
Committee/
Trust FinanceCommittee

International
Services
Committee

Strategic
Approvals
Committee/
Strategy andApprovals
Committee

Remuneration
andAppointments
Committee

Audience
Councils
Committee

GeneralAppeals
Panel1

Complaints
andAppeals
Board2

19/19

†

†

†

†

†

3/3*

†

†

†

1/1

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

20/20

11/11

†

†

1/1

12/12*

3/3

4/5*

2/2

1/1

20/20

11/11

17/18*

†

†

†

†

5/5

2/2

†

19/20
20/20
20/20

†
†
†

†
†
6/9

14/14*
7/9
14/14

†
†
1/1

7/7
12/12
†

3/3
†
†

5/5
5/5
5/5

†
†
1/1

3/3
1/1
†

20/20
17/20
3/3
19/20
19/20
5/7
8/8

†
†
2/2
9/11*
10/11
3/3
†

17/17**
4/9
†
13/18
15/18
†
6/7

†
12/14*
2/2
†
†
3/3
3/4

1/1
†
†
1/1
†
†
1/1*

12/12
2/5
2/2
†
†
3/3
†

†
3/3
†
†
†
†
†

†
†
†
†
†
†
†

3/3
1/1
†
3/3
6/6
†
†

5/5
1/1
†
†
3/3
1/1
†

Notes:
1
The General Appeals Panel did not have a constant membership.
2
Membership of the Complaints and Appeals Board consists of two Trustees, plus additional Trustees as required.
*
Denotes committee Chairman during 2011/12.
**
Does not include an ad hoc meeting of the Committee which was convened with the available Trustees on the day of the meeting.
†
Denotes Trustee is not a member of the Committee listed.
Committee membership changes during 2011/12
Audiences and Performance Committee: Dame Patricia Hodgson (until May 2011); Suzanna Taverne (from February 2012).
Complaints and Appeals Board: Richard Ayre (Chair from December 2011); Mehmuda Mian (from December 2011).
Editorial Standards Committee: Elan Closs Stephens (until November 2011); Anthony Fry (until November 2011); Lord Williams (from January 2012).
Finance and Compliance Committee / Trust Finance Committee: Rotha Johnston (Chair until December 2011); Anthony Fry (Chair from January 2012); Dame Patricia Hodgson (until May 2011);
Bill Matthews (until November 2011); Lord Williams (from January 2012); Suzanna Taverne (from February 2012).
International Services Committee: Lord Williams (Chair); Diane Coyle; Richard Ayre; David Liddiment; Elan Closs Stephens (all from February 2012).
Strategic Approvals Committee / Strategy and Approvals Committee: Dame Patricia Hodgson (until May 2011); Rotha Johnston (until November 2011); Anthony Fry (from December 2011);
Suzanna Taverne (from February 2012).
Remuneration and Appointments Committee: Sir Michael Lyons (Chair until April 2011); Lord Patten (Chair from May 2011); Diane Coyle (from May 2011).

Trustees’ attendance at
Audience Council meetings(1 April 2011 – 31 March 2012)
Trustee

Alison Hastings
Rotha Johnston
Bill Matthews
Elan Closs Stephens

Attendance

7/7
8/8
8/8
7/7

Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-31

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside
Inside thetheTrust
Trust

GOVERNANCECONTINUED

Trustees’ remunerationFees
Our fees as Trustees are determined by the
Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Mediaand Sport. In September 2010, Trustees took avoluntary 8.3% pay cut (equivalent to a month’ssalary), in parallel with the Director-General andother Executive Board members. The reduced
fees for Trustees will remain in effect until 31
August 2013 and are reflected in the table below.
The one exception to this is the Chairman,
where the level of fees was reduced by 23%
when the post was last advertised and, therefore,
a further discount has not been applied.
Trustees do not receive severance pay or othercompensation for loss of office.

Expenses
We are reimbursed for expenses incurred
on BBC business, which include travel,
accommodation, work-related meals andhospitality. The expenses we are entitled to claim
are governed by the Trust’s Code of Practice,which is published on our website. Every six
months we publish a full list of all expenses
incurred by each Trustee, as well as the services
booked centrally for Trustees by the Trust Unit.
Some of our expenses and support services
are classed as taxable benefits by HM Revenue& Customs, and this figure is published in the
remuneration table; any tax arising on expenses
incurred is settled by the BBC.
Chairman’s benefits
Lord Patten is not eligible to receive any benefits
other than his fee, and has elected not to makeuse of a BBC driver.

Trustees’ remuneration
Appointment term
Fees1
£000

Taxablebenefits
£000

Total
2011/12£000

Total
2010/11£000

Start dateEnd date

Chairman and Vice Chairman
Lord Patten2*
Sir Michael Lyons3
Diane Coyle4*
Chitra Bharucha5

101
11
67
–

–
4
–
–

101
15
67
–

–
184
34
44

1 May 11
1 May 07
1 Nov 06
1 Nov 0630 Apr 15
30 Apr 11
30 Apr 15
31 Oct 10

National Trustees
Alison Hastings*
Rotha Johnston
Janet Lewis-Jones5
Bill Matthews*†
Jeremy Peat5
Elan Closs Stephens*

38
38
–
38
–
38

–
–
–
–
–
–

38
38
–
38
–
38

39
39
23
9
30
16

1 Nov 06
1 Nov 06
1 Nov 06
1 Jan 11
1 Jan 06
1 Nov 1031 Oct 14
31 Oct 12
31 Oct 10
31 Dec 14
31 Dec 10
31 Oct 14

Trustees
Richard Ayre
Anthony Fry
Dame Patricia Hodgson3*
David Liddiment
Mehmuda Mian
Richard Tait5
Suzanna Taverne2
Lord Williams2*

33
33
6
33
33
–
8
11

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

33
33
6
33
33
–
8
11

22
34
34
34
34
12
–
–

1 Aug 10
1 Nov 08
1 Nov 06
1 Nov 06
1 Nov 06
1 Aug 04
1 Jan 12
1 Dec 1131 Jul 14
31 Oct 12
6 Jun 1131 Oct 14
31 Oct 12
31 Jul 10
31 Dec 15
30 Nov 15

Total

488

4

492

588

Notes:
1
As noted above, Trustees took a voluntary 8.3% pay cut, in parallel with the Director-General and Executive Board, in September 2010. The reduced fees for Trustees will remain in effect until
31 August 2013.
2
Lord Patten, Suzanna Taverne and Lord Williams began their appointments part way through the financial year; accordingly, their fees only relate to their time in office and do not cover the full year.
3
Sir Michael Lyons and Dame Patricia Hodgson ended their appointments part-way through the financial year; accordingly their fees only relate to their time in office and do not cover the full year.
4
Diane Coyle was appointed as Vice Chairman on 1 May 2011 and her term will run until 30 April 2015.
5
Chitra Bharucha, Janet Lewis-Jones, Jeremy Peat and Richard Tait all ended their appointments during the financial year 2010/11; accordingly, their fees only relate to their time in office and do notcover the full year.
*
These Trustees all had taxable benefits less than £500 and consequently these benefits have been rounded to nil. The total amount claimed by these Trustees was £679.87.
†
Bill Matthews is the Chairman of the Board of the BBC Pension Trust Ltd, the corporate trustee of the BBC Pension Scheme. He is separately remunerated for this role. Further details are available
in the BBC Pension Scheme Annual Report and Accounts.

1-32 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside
InsidethetheTrust
Trust

TRUST FINANCESThe BBC Trust is committed to getting the best out of the BBC
for licence fee payers. We are always, therefore, looking for ways
to run our operations more efficiently, by challenging how andwhy we do things.

We have reduced our total expenditure whencompared with the previous year. Primarily,
this reduction is due to our efforts to control
audience research and regulatory costs.
We have committed to keep our direct
expenditure below 0.31% of the BBC’s
total licence fee income. We have met thiscommitment in 2011/12 with Trust direct
expenditure representing 0.25% of total licence
fee income (0.31% in 2010/11).
Director and senior manager
remuneration
Nicholas Kroll, Director, BBC Trust, is the Chief
Officer of the Trust as specified by the Charter.
He is the principal adviser to the Trust and Chief
Executive of the Trust Unit. His base pay for
2011/12 was £238,680 (£238,680 in 2010/11) andthe aggregate of his emoluments to 31 March2012 was £246,480 (£281,004 in 2010/11).
He is a member of the BBC Pension Scheme.
The Trust Unit has eight senior managers
in addition to the Director. The Trust’s
website provides an analysis of the Trust Unitsenior manager headcount, split into £5,000
salary bands.
You can find information on the Trust’s
Remuneration and Appointments Committee
on page 1-30 and our strategy for Executive
Board remuneration on page 1-9. The section on
Trustees’ remuneration on page 1-32 is audited.
Reporting regulations
The Royal Charter requires the Annual Reportand Accounts to be prepared in two partsand for both parts to be externally audited.
We therefore ask KPMG LLP to confirm
that we have accurately presented the Trust’s
expenditure, including Trustees’ remuneration,
in Part One. KPMG LLP’s report is included next
to the statement of Trust responsibilities on page
1-34. The BBC is exempt from the requirementsof The Large and Medium-sized Companies andGroups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations
2008 and those of the Financial Services
Authority, but where relevant, we have preparedthis Report as if those requirements apply.

Trust expenditure statementNote2011/12£000

2010/11
£000

1
2
3

546
4,473
3,855

651
4,586
5,097

8,874

10,334

–

461

8,874
2,976
21
26

10,795
3,187
4–

Total Ofcom fees payable by Trust

3,023

3,191

Total Trust expenditure

11,897

13,986

Trustee remuneration
Staff costs
Other operating costs
Trust expenditure before restructuring costs
Restructuring costs
Direct Trust expenditure
Ofcom regulatory fees
Ofcom Market Impact Assessment fees
Ofcom Significance Test fees

4&5
6
7
8

Notes:
1
The remuneration received by each Trustee is shown in the table on page 1-32. The figure in the table above also
includes social security costs.
2
Staff costs include wages and salaries, social security costs and employer’s pension contributions.
3
Operating costs include direct expenditure on activities such as research, legal advice, other specialist advisory services
and the Trust’s consultation activities and stakeholder events.
4
This represents direct external spend by the Trust. The Trust also made use of shared services, which included
property provision, finance, HR and information services, that were provided by the BBC public services.
5
Of direct Trust expenditure, £999,691 relates to spend on Trust activities in the four nations (£1,192,000 in 2010/11).
This primarily covers support for the four national Audience Councils and the 12 regional Audience Councils.
6
Ofcom allocates its costs of television and radio regulation to the BBC and the other UK broadcasting channels.
The Trust pays the BBC’s share of that allocation.
7
Ofcom Market Impact Assessment (MIA) fees cover Ofcom’s direct and indirect costs in undertaking the MIA for
public value tests. No MIAs were undertaken in 2010/11 or 2011/12; costs related to Ofcom’s programme managementof MIAs.
8
Ofcom Significance Test fees cover Ofcom’s direct and indirect costs in undertaking work to input to the Trust’s
Significance Tests.

Trust people
Average for Average forNote year 2011/12 year 2010/11

Trustees (number)
Trust Unit staff (EFT) 1 & 2
1
2

10.8
67.3

11.6
68.6

Trust Unit staff are those employed directly by the Trust Unit.
Of the 67.3 average equivalent full time (EFT) Trust Unit staff for
2011/12, 19.4 EFTs were based outside London and supported thework the Trust undertakes in the four nations – Wales, Scotland,
Northern Ireland and England (18.3 in 2010/11). 13% come froma black or minority ethnic background (13% in 2010/11), 3.1% aredisabled (7% in 2010/11) and 68% are women (67% in 2010/11).

Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-33

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside
Inside thetheTrust
Trust

TRUST FINANCESCONTINUED

Report of KPMG LLP to the BBC TrustIn accordance with the terms of our engagement letter dated
3 June 2008, we have examined the expenditure statementon page 1-33 (the ‘Trust expenditure statement’) for the year
ended 31 March 2012 which has been prepared, further to therequirements of the BBC Royal Charter dated October 2006,
by the Trustees and is their sole responsibility.
Our responsibility, in accordance with the terms of ourengagement letter, is to form an independent opinion, on thebasis of the work performed, and to report our opinion to theTrust. Our examination was substantially less in scope than an
audit or a review.
Our report has been prepared for the Trust solely inconnection with its obligations under the Royal Charter. Our
report was designed to meet the agreed requirements of theTrust and particular features of our engagement determined by
the Trust’s needs at the time. Our report should not therefore
be regarded as suitable to be used or relied on by any party
wishing to acquire rights against us other than the Trust for any
purpose or in any context. Any party other than the Trust who
obtains access to our report (or any part of it) will do so at its
own risk. To the fullest extent permitted by law, KPMG LLP
will accept no responsibility or liability in respect of our reportto any other party.
In our opinion, the expenditure as shown in the Trust
expenditure statement has been accurately extracted from thebooks and records of the Trust on the basis of Notes to theTrust expenditure statement.

Scott Cormack
For and on behalf of KPMG LLP
Chartered Accountants
15 Canada Square
London E14 5GL
21 June 2012

Statement of responsibilities in respect of theAnnual Report and Accounts
The BBC’s Charter requires that an Annual Report andstatement of accounts is prepared in two parts, Part One by
the Trust and Part Two by the Executive Board. The Executive
Board’s responsibilities are detailed in the Governance sectionof Part Two of this Annual Report. In summary, the Executive
Board is responsible for preparing the financial statements
and statements of compliance with applicable corporate
governance codes and remuneration regulations, and delivering
these to the Trust within Part Two of this Annual Report.
The Executive Board has prepared the financial statements inaccordance with International Financial Reporting Standards(IFRS) as adopted by the EU (EU IFRS), reflecting the fact that
EU IFRS are widely used in the UK, are being adopted in the
public sector, and that their use would be permitted under theCompanies Act 2006. These financial statements are audited
by external auditors.
In preparing its associated corporate governance disclosures,the Executive Board has elected to comply with the Financial
Reporting Council’s 2010 Combined Code, and, whereapplicable, the Financial Services Authority Listing Rules which
apply to a company quoted on an EU-regulated market.
In order to comply with these requirements, the Annual
Report must include disclosures on the governancearrangements of the Trust as well as those of the Executive
Board. These disclosures, which are audited, are theresponsibility of the Trust, and are included in Part One ofthis report. The Charter also requires the Trust to preparea statement of its expenditure and include it within Part Oneof the Annual Report.
Statement of disclosure of information to auditors
The Trustees who held office at the date of approval of thisAnnual Report and Accounts confirm that, so far as each isaware, there is no relevant audit information of which the BBC’s
auditors are unaware; and each Trustee has taken all the steps
that they ought to have taken as a Trustee to make themselvesaware of any relevant audit information and to establish that theBBC’s auditors are aware of that information.
This statement was approved by the Trust on 21 June 2012.

Lord Patten of Barnes
Chairman
21 June 2012

1-34 Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

Overview | BBC performance | Accountability to audiences | Inside
InsidethetheTrust
Trust

CONTACT THE TRUSTThe Trust is keen to hear your views during consultations andservice reviews. You may also contact the Trust to comment
on matters of Trust business, to appeal against a complaint
finding by the Executive, or to complain about the Trustor the Trust Unit. You can contact the Trust by post, email
or telephone.

BBC Trust
1st Floor
180 Great Portland Street
London W1W 5QZ
Email: trust.enquiries@bbc.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust
Telephone: BBC Audience Services on 03700
103 100 or text phone on 03700 100 212*
Many issues are best dealt with by contacting therelevant part of the BBC directly, rather than
the Trust. These include programme complaints,
queries about paying your TV licence, questions
about how to get tickets for BBC shows or
how to work for the BBC, and suggestions for
programme ideas. For further information on
how to contact the BBC about these questions
see www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc* Calls may be recorded for training purposes. 0370 numbers are ‘UKwide’ and cost no more than calls to 01 or 02 geographic numbers.

Complaints
The Trust ensures that the BBC has in placea clear, fair, efficient and timely framework to
respond to complaints. You can find full details
about the complaints process on the BBC
website at www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

BBC Audience Councils
The Audience Councils advise the Trust on how
well the BBC is serving licence fee payers acrossthe UK. The Councils also have formal rights tobe consulted on issues such as service licence
reviews. To contact the Audience Councils:
Audience Council England
Email: audiencecouncil.england@bbc.co.uk
Or write to:
BBC Audience Council England
The Mailbox
Birmingham B1 1RF
Audience Council Scotland
Email: acs@bbc.co.uk
Or write to:
BBC Audience Council Scotland
Zone G.11
40 Pacific Quay
Glasgow G51 1DA

Photography credits
Photographs used are © BBC
or used under the terms of
the PACT agreement, except
for the photograph on page 15© Betina Skovbro and thephotograph on page 21 © Chris
Christodoulou. Permission fromthe copyright holders must besought before any photographs
are reproduced.
The text of this document may
be reproduced free of charge inany format or medium providingthat it is done so accurately andnot in a misleading context. It
must be accredited to the BBC.

Audience Council Wales
Email: acw@bbc.co.uk
Or write to:
BBC Audience Council Wales
Broadcasting House
Llandaff
Cardiff CF5 2YQ
Audience Council Northern Ireland
Email: audiencecouncil.ni@bbc.co.uk
Or write to:
BBC Audience Council Northern Ireland
BBC Broadcasting House
Room G08
Ormeau Avenue
Belfast BT2 8HQGetting the best out of the BBC for licence fee payers
Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12 1-35

British Broadcasting Corporation
Broadcasting House
London W1A 1AA
bbc.co.uk© BBC 2012