Digital Economy Bill — House of Lords, 2016-12-13
Topic: Technology
Anthony Lester (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, in my opinion, which is widely supported across the House, we need to amend the Bill to provide statutory underpinning for the BBC’s royal charter. With support from across the House, we will table amendments in Committee. Those amendments will in no way delay the coming into effect of the draft charter and agreement but will protect the future independence and viability of the BBC in performing its public service functions Ministers have claimed that statutory underpinning is unnecessary and that the charter provides sufficient protection of the public interest. That argument has been rejected in our debates by three former chairmen of the Communications Committee, by the former chairman of the BBC and by its former director-general. Many others across the House support the need for statutory underpinning The Government have themselves recognised the value of statutory underpinning in their National Citizen Service Bill, and have done so by a combination of statute and charter. The DCMS is the parent department of that Bill and the present Bill, with the same Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Ashton, in charge of both Bills’ passage through the House. It is difficult to understand why a combination of statute and charter is appropriate for the NCS Trust and not for the BBC What I mean by statutory underpinning is that Parliament should prescribe the basic principles protecting the independence of the BBC in all matters concerning the content of its output, the times and manner in which its output is supplied and the governance and management of its affairs. It should require the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State, the BBC, Ofcom and all other persons and bodies responsible for matters relating to the governance and establishment of the BBC to ensure that the BBC is able to operate independently from Ministers and other public authorities in the UK In carrying out that duty, the Secretary of State and other Ministers should be required by legislation not to seek to influence the BBC’s decisions. In addition, the Secretary of State should be required to have regard to: the need to have regard to the BBC’s independence; the need for the BBC to have the financial and non-financial support needed to enable it to exercise its functions; and the need for the public interest to be considered in regard to matters relating to the BBC The Secretary of State should be required to make available to the BBC sufficient funds, through the licence fee and otherwise, to enable the BBC to perform its functions and public purposes as a public service broadcaster. It is also essential for the Bill to ensure that the licence fee is for the exclusive benefit of and use by the BBC and to fund the performance of the BBC’s functions and public purposes. The licence fee should be index linked and increased at least in line with the consumer prices index. The Secretary of State should be forbidden from transferring to the BBC the responsibility for, the liability for or cost of any public expenditure. Ofcom should be responsible for overseeing the performance of the BBC’s functions as a public service broadcaster As regards governance, the BBC should be governed by an independent board of not more than 14 people with the knowledge and experience needed to perform the board’s functions as a public service broadcaster. Its members should be drawn from across the nations and regions of the United Kingdom, and should include BBC licence-fee payers and present or former members of staff. The Prime Minister should appoint the chair and other members of the board on the basis of a recommendation made by an independent appointments committee established by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The board should carry out its functions in an open and transparent manner As regards the licence fee—this is pathetically weak, but deliberately so—the board should publish a recommendation to the Secretary of State on the amount of funding the Secretary of State should make available to the BBC. The Secretary of State should publish the Government’s response These amendments would not delay the coming into force of the current draft charter and agreement, and are designed to protect the BBC and the public for the future. I recognise that legislation by itself is not a panacea. It has to be interpreted and applied wisely. The safeguards must be proportionate—no more than appropriate and necessary, but also no less, in protecting the BBC’s independence and viability as a leading public service broadcaster Members of both Houses debated the draft charter, and there was detailed and sustained criticism of its perceived flaws. However, the Government refused to make any changes to the draft. The charter fails to protect the BBC against political interference or a repeat of the wholly improper slicing of the BBC’s revenue by transferring responsibility for the free television concession from the DWP to the BBC, which has had a drastic effect on the BBC’s revenue. The Government rely on the fact, as did the Minister in opening, that the BBC Trust consented to the transfer, but in the real world the BBC Trust was over a barrel and its consent was involuntary The charter that is about to come into effect does not protect the BBC’s financial viability through sufficient funding, whether from the licence fee or otherwise. It does not protect the BBC against excessive regulatory interference by Ofcom in regulating editorial standards, nor, unlike the charter proposed by the Government for the NCS Trust, does it provide for a merit-based method of appointing the chair and members of the BBC board—something that, in the light of recent developments, Channel 4 might wish that it could do. As the noble Lord, Lord Gordon, has said, what was done to the BBC in dumping the free television concession on it must never happen again. As I have explained, we need to amend the Bill to include that necessary protection Just as it is important to protect the BBC against ministerial interference, it is also important to protect it against parliamentary interference with its editorial independence in performing its public service functions. That is why I do not propose making future charters subject to parliamentary approval. What is needed is neither a statutory straitjacket devised by Parliament nor ministerial interference but a constitutional framework that will safeguard the BBC’s future in the public interest to the extent necessary, and no more I am a pathetic optimist by nature, and I hope the Minister will be able to indicate, either today or hereafter, the Government’s sympathy for this moderate and practical approach.