MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have expressed concern at the BBC’s handling of plans to shift more of its spending out of London as part of its ambitions to increase its presence in, and representation of, the whole UK.
A new report published by the PAC says the ‘Across the UK’ (ATUK) policy is being implemented “without a clear plan” and raises concerns that the BBC is failing to properly monitor the policy’s outcomes to ensure it’s delivering for audiences.
MPs also express concern that the BBC’s evaluation of the project’s impact is “only due to begin in 2025 – too late to change course if needed.”
The report’s biggest criticism is a suggestion that the BBC is including activities which aren’t part of the ATUK “when it is favourable for it to do so (for instance in the case of the relocation of its Birmingham premises), while dissociating other activities from ATUK when they could be seen as a bad news story, such as cuts to local radio.”
The committee also says the broadcaster is failing to provide Parliament and Licence Fee payers with “a complete picture of progress” and goes on to describe management confidence “that ATUK will deliver as expected” as “misplaced, given it is behind schedule in key areas.”
Although good progress has been achieved in some areas – such as having already moved 58% of TV spending outside London versus a target of 60% by December 2027 – MPs warn the project “is behind schedule in other areas with no plan to get back on track”.
To back up this warning, they cite the example of audio production where the BBC has a target of spending 50% of its budget outside London by March 2028, but is currently only spending 41% – an increase of just 1% on the sums it spent outside the capital as of March 2020.
Committee Chair Dame Meg Hillier MP said: “The BBC is seeking to liberate hundreds of millions in spending from the gravitational pull of London, and it is understandable that the simple act of having done so would feel like success.
“But as with every publicly-funded project, it is incumbent on the BBC to track what positive impact its spending is having at the same time.
“Parliament and the public must also be fully satisfied that the BBC is not simply cherry-picking examples of success in delivery of Across the UK, while sweeping bad news stories under the rug as not part of the programme, in particular cuts to local radio.”