The Department of Culture, Media and Sport is asking the public what it thinks about the BBC and how it should be run in future.

This is the text of the DCMS announcement (including details of how to submit views);

"Your BBC, Your Say" - Jowell launches biggest ever public debate on future of the BBC

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell today launched the biggest ever public debate on the future of the BBC.
Launching the consultation, she stressed the importance of the BBC to both the world of broadcasting and the wider public – in particular she said it set  a "gold standard" in its news coverage that people trusted.
The public consultation, which will give people the chance to put their views directly to Ministers at meetings across the UK, is the first stage in the review of the BBC's Royal Charter - a document that shapes the corporation, setting out its general aims and functions.  The Charter is up for review by 1 January 2007.
And she said that the unique challenge of this Charter Review is that it is taking place at a time of rapid technological change - nearly 50% of homes now have access to digital TV.
Tessa Jowell said:"Rapid change means that we must consider how the BBC should be adapted for the future. The one certain outcome of the review will be a strong BBC, with the courage to be editorially autonomous and independent from Government.
"Previous Charter Reviews have been conducted in a range of ways.  By the great and the good.  By Ministers and civil servants.
"But this review will be different. For the first time the driving force will be the British people. Through the licence fee, they are in effect the BBC's shareholders."
A consultation document – The Review of the BBC's Royal Charter – was published today to kick-start the first stage of the review
It sets out a list of key questions to prompt discussion about the BBC's role,
structure and function. They are:
   *  What do you value most about the BBC?
   *  How should the BBC adapt to cope with changes in technology and culture?
   *  What do you think of the television, radio and online services the BBC provides?
   *  Should the BBC run commercial services?
   *  How should we pay for the BBC?
   *  Is the BBC organised in the most effective and efficient way?
   *  How should the BBC be governed and regulated?
   *  How do we ensure that the BBC is properly accountable to the public and Parliament?
Members of the public and other stakeholders are being invited to send in their views on these issues, and any others, to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport by e-mail or post.
The consultation will be accompanied by a programme of direct engagement with the public, through survey research and public meetings, details of which will be announced shortly.
To help stimulate debate, an information leaflet, entitled Your BBC, Your Say, will be available in public libraries and a dedicated website giving further information is being launched today.
The second stage of the review, expected to begin around the end of 2004, will bring together the results of the consultation and the conclusions of other reviews – including Ofcom's review of public service television, the review of BBC online and forthcoming reviews of the BBC's new services - into a Green Paper. This will be published for further consultation.
A White Paper will follow, with another round of consultation.  Charter Review will be concluded with an opportunity for both Houses of Parliament to contribute their views.
Tessa Jowell said that an independent advisory panel would be appointed in the New Year, chaired by Terry Burns, who is providing independent advice on Charter Review.
Notes to editors
1. The BBC's current charter, expires at the end of 2006.
2.  The document The Review of the BBC's Royal Charter and further information on the BBC and Charter Review can be accessed at  www.bbccharterreview.org.uk
3. Contributors to the Charter Review consultation should send their views to:

E-mail: bbccharterreview@culture.gsi.gov.uk

Post:  BBC Charter Review Consultation
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London
SW1Y 5DH

All responses should be sent by 31 March 2004.

4. The BBC's Royal Charter is a formal document granted under the Royal prerogative, establishing the BBC and defining its general objectives and functions.  It is supported by the Agreement between the BBC and the Government, which sets out how the BBC will meet its general obligations, the services it will provide, and the standards, it will meet. The current charter and agreement can be accessed at http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/policies/charter/
5. The first Charter Review was in 1927. Since then reviews have been carried out about every 10 years. The current Royal Charter is the seventh in the history of the BBC.
6. The BBC provides the following publicly funded services:
   *  TV channels – BBC1 and BBC2, BBC 3 and BBC4, CBeebies, CBBC, BBC News 24 and BBC Parliament.
   *  Radio services – Radio1, Radio2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Radio Five Live, Five Live Sports Xtra, Radio 1Xtra, BBC6 Music, BBC7 and BBC Asian Network, as well as 38 local radio stations and a further six stations covering the nations.
   *  BBCi – the BBC's interactive services, including online services, interactive text and interactive digital television.
   *  Services in the nations and regions – BBC Scotland, BBC Northern Ireland, BBC Wales and BBC English Regions.
7. In addition, the BBC runs a number of commercial services, including BBC Worldwide Ltd and BBC Ventures Ltd.


This is the BBC's statement in response:
The BBC today (Thursday 11 December) welcomed the start of the Charter Review process with the publication of the DCMS' questions and launch of their public consultation.
It also announced that it would complement this consultation with its own programme of events to stimulate wide debate about the BBC's future among all audiences.
BBC Director-General, Greg Dyke, said today: "We are pleased that the Secretary of State is committed to the continuation of a strong, independent BBC and that she recognises that the BBC plays a unique role in defining what Britain is as a nation.
"Given the changes we are witnessing in both technology and society we also believe she is right to stress in the document that Charter Review will be both complex and significant.
"The Secretary of State is asking interesting and challenging questions and we look forward to an open and rigorous debate in which, of course, the BBC will be playing its full part."
The DCMS public consultation will continue until 31 March. During this time the BBC will be using its airwaves and online sites to stimulate debate and encourage as wide an audience as possible to think about what the BBC means to them now and in the future.
This will help shape the BBC's response to the DCMS' questions, which will be published in March, along with its own vision and consultative paper of what the BBC should be in the 21st century.
This will be followed by a series of papers around big ideas that will contribute to the debate throughout 2004.

A think-tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research, is calling for the licence fee to be means-tested, as well as an overhaul in the Board of Governors.

This is the IPPR's Press Release on the subject:

The BBC regulator should be independent from Ofcom and the BBC Governors should be a separate body from the corporation, according to a new book published next week by the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr). ‘From Public Service Broadcasting to Public Service Communications’ argues the Board of Governors must be radically reformed if they are to provide effective regulation of the Corporation.

The book also makes radical proposals for progressive reform of the BBC licence fee. It recommends an extension of the concession scheme, currently available only to those over-75, to everyone on incapacity benefit as a first step. Ultimately, it recommends a hypothecated tax on individuals’ income, collected by the Inland Revenue, with reduced fees for all benefit claimants.

The book is published on Tuesday (13th) at the ippr’s Oxford Media Convention, where Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport, Rt. Hon. Tessa Jowell MP will set out the Government’s vision for BBC Charter Renewal.

ippr Jamie Cowling Research Fellow and co-editor of the book, said:

“Clearly there is a need to make the BBC Governors more independent of the BBC. However, the BBC should not be brought under Ofcom. There should be more than one content regulator as a single content regulator could easily be subject to external pressure resulting in a chilling effect on the diversity of opinion in broadcast news and information.

“The contributors to this book agree that with Government support for digital switch-over by 2010, and a minimum of 24 channels available to most UK homes by that point, UK broadcasting is experiencing not incremental evolution, but a genuine step change. With 98 per cent of households having TVs and the extent to which TV is becoming a tool of social inclusion rather than just a luxury item, the licence fee should come from income tax paid by individuals and not a ‘poll tax’ paid per household. If those without TVs had to apply to opt out, licence fee non-payment would be dramatically cut.”

The book says that non-payment of the licence fee should become a civil offence, to prevent the criminalisation of the poor. The book also recommends:

   * That Ofcom publish appreciation indices for programmes provided by any broadcaster in receipt of public funds, so that viewers approval or disapproval is not hidden behind simple ratings.
   * A positive public service content obligation on all channels over a certain audience share.
   * Provision of online services be made one of the ‘objects of the corporation'.
   * BBC web pages and audio/video players accessed from outside the UK the BBC should, as with the BBC World channel, carry advertising.
   * A public/public partnership between the BBC and UKOnline to encourage more inclusive government consultation.
   * The BBC Board of Governors must be radically reformed, given greater powers to hold the BBC to account and should be housed outside the corporation.

But the book says ‘top-slicing’ of the licence fee as a means of funding public service communications providers other than the BBC should be resisted. It also rejects proposals for an ‘arts council of the airwaves’ as unworkable.