MPs question culture secretary over future of the BBC
On 13 July, Lisa Nandy, culture secretary, faced questions from MPs on the future of the BBC ahead of the charter renewal process.
Appearing before the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee’s BBC Royal Charter Review inquiry, Nandy said that the government is “almost certainly” going to pursue worker representation on the BBC board while removing political appointments as part of Charter Renewal.
Responding to Rupa Huq, MP for Ealing Central and Acton, Nandy said:
“One of the things I'm very keen to do throughout this Charter Renewal process is remove the political appointments from the board. I think that's damaged the public perception of the BBC, and actually having met Bectu and NUJ reps, I can tell you very compellingly that it’s damaged staff confidence in their own leadership.
“We envisage a stronger role for the nations and regions - not a weaker role. The problem that I have with the current system is the political appointments, not the fact that the nations and regions are represented.
“NUJ and Bectu made a very, very strong and compelling case for having workers from the BBC on the board so that is almost certainly something that we are going to pursue.”
Huq also mentioned BBC's decision to cut 2,000 jobs, asking Nandy what conversations she has had with unions.
Nandy said:
“I’ve recently met with Bectu and NUJ - with leadership and workplace reps across the BBC. I am concerned about the cuts that were announced. I’ve raised those concerns directly with the director general, although admittedly they were made and decided before he took up his post. I do find it somewhat strange that those cuts were decided before he took up the post but after he’d been announced.
“Particularly, what I’m concerned about is that through the Charter process, we intend to build on the work that Tim Davie did to build out the footprint of the BBC across every nation and region of the United Kingdom.
“We intend to devolve more commissioning power, we intend to ensure that the BBC becomes what ITV was formed originally to do, which was to be the engine of the nations and regions and ensure that every part of the country was heard in our national conversation, and the direction of travel of the cuts seems to me to be slightly at odds with that.”
If you are a worker at the BBC and worried about these proposed cuts, you can reach the NUJ either by contacting your rep or official. If you’re unsure who to contact, please email [email protected].
Learn more about our Back the BBC campaign, including how to get involved and our calls for Charter Renewal.