Key Takeaways
- Peers urge government to drop economic growth objective for BBC.
- BBC already contributes significantly to UK’s creative economy.
- Government to set out strategy for public service media in charter review.
Peers are urging the UK government to drop a proposed new objective for the BBC to drive economic growth across the country during its charter renewal process.
In a letter to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, a group of peers argued that while the BBC already makes a significant contribution to the UK’s creative economy, adding an explicit economic growth public purpose to the new charter would risk mission drift and skew content towards more generic, exportable material.
The government’s proposals for the BBC’s charter renewal last year suggested the broadcaster should include a new obligation to drive economic growth, build skills, and support the creative economy across the UK.
However, the peers believe that this idea should be dropped, arguing that it has few obvious benefits and clear associated risks.
Lord Healey, a member of the group of peers, stated, “We believe there is a case for articulating the BBC’s vital support for the creative economy more explicitly in its public purposes. However, giving the broadcaster a broad new objective to drive economic growth across the UK has few obvious benefits and clear associated risks.”
The peers also emphasized the need for the government to set out a coherent and ambitious strategy for public service media over the next decade, while being realistic about the financial pressures the BBC faces.
The government is expected to use the BBC charter review white paper to outline its plans for the broadcaster’s future, including its public purposes and objectives.
The BBC currently makes a massive contribution to the UK’s creative economy, and the peers argue that this should be highlighted more explicitly in the charter review.
By focusing on the BBC’s existing contributions to the creative economy, the government can ensure that the broadcaster remains a vital part of the UK’s cultural and economic landscape without the risk of mission drift.
We believe there is a case for articulating the BBC’s vital support for the creative economy more explicitly in its public purposes. However, giving the broadcaster a broad new objective to drive economic growth across the UK has few obvious benefits and clear associated risks.
Lord Healey, Member of the group of peers
