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http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl >> News and Comment >> NAO to scrutinise BBC accounts http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1274365122 Message started by Administrator on May 20^th, 2010, 2:19pm

Title: NAO to scrutinise BBC accounts
Post by Administrator on May 20^th, 2010, 2:19pm

This is taken from The Guardian:

BBC accounts in coalition's crosshairs
Scrutiny of licence fee spending by National Audit Office makes official programme, alongside looser local media ownership rules
by Mark Sweney, Thursday 20 May 2010 13.07 BST

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government is pressing ahead with plans to give the National Audit Office full access to the BBC's accounts to "ensure transparency" in how the corporation spends its £3.4bn a year licence fee income.

In the 36-page full legislative programme published today, the NAO proposal sits alongside plans to liberalise local media ownership laws for newspaper, radio and TV companies in the section on culture, Olympics, media and sport.

The programme also includes a proposal for the rapid rollout of superfast broadband, "if necessary" using some of the licence fee switchover surplus.

Other proposals include stricter rules governing "irresponsible" marketing and advertising, especially to children; and a review of libel law.

Today's legislative programme appears to signal the final demise of Labour's plan for independently financed news consortiums to provide replacement ITV regional news services, with no mention in the document. The Tories opposed the IFNCs, while the Lib Dems were in favour.

Both parties had both already pledged to allow the NAO full access to BBC accounts in their respective election manifestos published last month.

The NAO is overseen by the Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Tory MP Edward Leigh, which has previously heavily criticised the BBC as not being properly held to account over spending.
However, the BBC has consistently opposed giving the NAO greater oversight of its accounts.

"We will maintain the independence of the BBC, and give the National Audit office full access to the BBC's accounts to ensure transparency," the government said today.

However, there was no mention of the BBC Trust, which both the Lib Dems and Tories want scrapped, or the possibility of freezing the licence fee, which the Conservatives talked about in the run-up to the election.

A spokesperson for the BBC Trust said of the document: "We look forward to discussing the details of this with the government in the coming weeks. In particular, we welcome the commitment to maintaining the BBC's independence.

"We will continue to work with the NAO to ensure they have full access to BBC information so they can carry out their work for us on securing value for money for licence fee payers. The trust supports the government's emphasis on transparency that has been a hallmark of its work since it was created in 2007.

"We note the reference to the possible use of an element of the licence fee on broadband roll out. We look forward to discussing this with the government."

The government also pledged to deregulate local cross-media ownership rules. "We will enable partnerships between local newspapers, radio and television stations to promote a strong and diverse local media industry," it said.

However, no detail was given on whether the Tories would look to push ahead with their proposal to create a network of about 80 local media companies, known as LMCs, that would deliver TV, print and online services regional and local communities.

It is likely that Labour's plan to introduce independently funded news consortia, to replace ITV's regional TV service, will also be scrapped. The Tories are against it – the party forced the removal from the digital economy bill of a clause to enable Ofcom to allocate funding and appoint consortiums – while the Liberal Democrats were firmly in favour of the plan.

The government also said that it would look to use the licence fee to fund the rollout of national superfast broadband to areas that commercial companies will not pay to extend their networks.
"If necessary, we will consider using part of the TV licence fee that is supporting the digital switchover to fund broadband in areas that the market alone will not reach," it said.

The goverment also pledged to tighten advertising rules, again a heavy feature in both parties election manifestos.

"We will crack down on irresponsible advertising and marketing, especially to children," the government said in its policy document. "We will also take steps to tackle the commercialisation of childhood."

Libel laws will also be up for review, with the Liberal Democrats having gone as far as promising before the election to put into statute the controversial Reynolds defence, which provides a public interest defence for journalists who conduct their investigation responsibly but are unable to later prove the story was true. The Conservatives' election manifesto pledged a review.

"We will review libel laws to protect freedom of speech," the government said.

The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, will in due course provide a more detailed briefing on media policy, as he did for the arts sector yesterday.