BBC — Television Licence for Consumers of BBC On-Demand Services — Transparency Over BBC Budgets — Open Commissioning — 8 Jun 2016 at 16:04

The majority of MPs voted for those watching or listening to BBC on-demand content to be required to pay the television licence fee; for an increase in the television licence fee in line with inflation; for greater transparency over how the BBC spends licence fee income and to open up BBC commissioning.

The motion text rejected in this vote was:

• That this House
• believes that the Government’s White Paper on the BBC fails to provide an acceptable basis for Charter renewal;
• notes the threat the White Paper poses to the editorial and financial independence of the BBC;
• expresses concern about the re-writing of the BBC’s founding mission statement;
• further notes the concerns about the White Paper expressed by Members of this House and the House of Lords; and
• calls on the Government to reconsider the proposals contained in the White Paper.

The key recommendations in the Government’s White Paper on the BBC which the rejected motion text called on the Government to reconsider were to:

• enable the BBC to make even more great programmes for audiences to enjoy
• create a strong unitary board for the BBC, enhancing its independence.
• appoint Ofcom as the external independent regulator of the BBC
• increase the licence fee level in line with inflation for five years from 2017/18 so that the BBC can continue to provide high quality, distinctive content for all audiences
• ensure the BBC’s market impacts are assessed more widely and effectively
• open the BBC’s content commissioning to greater competition, by removing the in-house guarantee for all television content except news and news related current affairs.
• establish a new contestable public service content fund
• enhance the efficiency of the BBC by expecting the board to investigate issues relating to excessive management layers, and overall staffing levels
• promote greater transparency within the BBC
• deliver a stronger role for the National Audit Office to scrutinise BBC spending and value for money.
• help make the BBC a better partner,
• ensure that the BBC serves all nations and regions in the UK
• enshrine a commitment to diversity in the Charter,
• ensure the BBC supports and invigorates local news provision across the UK
• embed the core principle of the impartiality of the BBC in its overall mission
• establish an 11 year Charter to 2027, separating Charter Review from the political cycle
• introduce a new regularised process for setting the licence fee
• modernise the licence fee by requiring all those who consume BBC on-demand content (e.g. on BBC iPlayer) to pay the licence fee
• provide greater freedom for the BBC to manage its own budgets by phasing out protected funding for broadband (£150 million a year) and local television (£5 million a year)

The question rejected in this vote was:

• That the original words stand part of the Question.

Debate in Parliament |