MINUTES OF THE BBC TRUST MEETING. Held on Thursday 17 March 2011 in the BBC Trust boardroom, Great Portland Street, London

Transcription

1 MINUTES OF THE BBC TRUST MEETING Held on Thursday 17 March 2011 in the BBC Trust boardroom, Great Portland Street, London Present: Michael Lyons Chairman Richard Ayre Diane Coyle Anthony Fry Alison Hastings for England Patricia Hodgson Rotha Johnston for Northern Ireland David Liddiment Bill Matthews for Scotland Mehmuda Mian Elan Closs Stephens for Wales In attendance from the Trust Unit: Nicholas Kroll Alex Towers Phil Harrold Mark Devane Christine Mulryne Director, BBC Trust Deputy Director, BBC Trust Head of Governance Head of Communications Business and Events Co-ordinator Items 30 34, Alison Bexfield Head of Finance and Compliance 36 and 37 Items Jon Cowdock Head of Business Strategy and 38 Items Alison Gold Head of Public Services Strategy and 39 Item 33 Peter De Val Head of Legal Item 33 Meredith Cook Project Manager, Governance Item 38 Bronwen Roscoe Senior Strategy Adviser Item 40 Andrew Young Diversity Adviser

2 From the Executive: Items Mark Thompson Director-General Items Mark Byford Deputy Director-General Items Caroline Thomson Chief Operating Officer Items Zarin Patel Chief Financial Officer Items Mary Wilkinson Acting Head of Director-General s Office Items 36 and 37 Chris Day Group Financial Controller Items 36 and 37 Ed James Head of Group Reporting and Analysis Item 38 John Smith Chief Executive Officer, BBC Worldwide Item 38 Anna Mallett Controller, Business Strategy Item 38 David Moody Director, Strategy, BBC Worldwide Item 40 Hamida Ali Policy and Performance Manager, BBC People

3 AGENDA 30 Minutes and matters arising 31 Committees and Audience Councils 32 Director s report 33 Licence fee settlement implementation 34 BBC Trust work plan Director-General s monthly report 36 BBC Budget for Executive finance report 38 The BBC s strategy for BBC Worldwide 39 Performance dashboard 40 BBC diversity strategy Executive items for noting 42 Mark Byford 43 Other business 44 Trust items for noting 45 Business handling and communications 46 Conflict of interest

4 30 MINUTES AND MATTERS ARISING 30.1 The Trust approved the minutes of its meeting on 17 February 2011 as an accurate record of proceedings, with minor drafting amendments. The Trust approved the publication of the minutes with no redactions The Trust noted the matters arising from previous meetings. 31 COMMITTEES AND AUDIENCE COUNCILS 31.1 The Trust noted the reports from each of the committees and Audience Councils. The chairmen of each committee and council updated members on the major outcomes of their respective meetings The Chairman of the Editorial Standards Committee (ESC) said that the committee had approved the Election Guidelines and Guidance relating to the forthcoming elections for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly, and local government in England and Northern Ireland The ESC commended the television audibility research project, undertaken by BBC Vision together with the Voice of the Listener and Viewer and the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), which investigated the factors that cause audibility problems for viewers. In response to the key findings of the report, the BBC would publish best practice guidance for producers, which would be publicly available on the BBC Academy s College of Production website The Chairman of the Finance and Compliance Committee said that the committee had scrutinised the BBC s budget for , prior to consideration by the Trust later in the meeting. She reported that the committee had taken part in helpful and wide-ranging discussions with KPMG, the BBC s external auditors, on budget and finance issues. 32 DIRECTOR S REPORT 32.1 The Director, BBC Trust presented his report, which provided an overview of activity undertaken by the Trust and previewed the key issues to be considered by the Trust at the meeting He noted that the House of Lords Communications Committee had launched an inquiry on BBC governance and regulation. The Chairman would give evidence before the Committee, as would other s.

5 33 LICENCE FEE SETTLEMENT IMPLEMENTATION 33.1 The Deputy Director, BBC Trust sought approval for the proposed amendments to the Agreement between the BBC and the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport following the 2010 licence fee settlement. The amendments would define the funding and governance arrangements for the BBC/S4C partnership, the BBC World Service, BBC Monitoring, support for local television and support for broadband, once these activities were funded from the licence fee The Trust approved amendments to the Agreement, noting that these would also need the agreement of the Secretary of State. s noted that the Executive Board had agreed that the amendments as drafted would be workable from an operational perspective. Members discussed the Trust s position relating to new access arrangements for the National Audit Office (NAO) and endorsed an approach to ongoing negotiations with the Government in this area The Trust delegated authority to the Chairman for any further decisions required and for approval of the final text of the Amending Agreement. 34 BBC TRUST WORK PLAN The Trust s Head of Governance presented the draft Trust work plan for , which set out the key elements of the Trust s programme of work for the year ahead Members noted that the work plan set out the delivery of the new BBC strategy, Putting Quality First, within the licence fee settlement as the main priority for the Trust in The Trust approved the work plan, which would be published in April, with the option to publish an updated plan later in the financial year, following the arrival of the new Chairman and the publication of the Executive s business plan. 35 DIRECTOR-GENERAL S MONTHLY REPORT 35.1 The Director-General outlined recent highlights on BBC services including World Book Night and Wonders of the Universe on BBC Two and noted the announcement of Ambridge Extra, a 13 week spin-off series from The Archers, which would be broadcast on digital station Radio 4 Extra. He commended the way in which Comic Relief had been embraced across the BBC, and highlighted contributions from Radio 3 s Big Red Nose Show at the Royal Albert Hall and Radio 1 s 52 hour Longest Show with Chris Moyles The Director-General noted the range of BBC output recognised at the recent Royal Television Society programme awards. Winners had included BBC Two s Miranda and Wonders of the Solar System, BBC Four s The Secret Life of the National Grid, CBBC s Sarah Jane Adventures and BBC One s EastEnders, in addition to individual awards for Professor Brian Cox and Miranda Hart.

6 35.3 The Deputy Director-General outlined key stories covered recently in BBC journalism output, including the natural disasters in Japan and the political crisis in Libya, commending the reporting by BBC journalists in exceptionally challenging circumstances The Director-General briefed s on discussions regarding the Government s proposals for public service broadcasters to broadcast a daily community minute with the aim of encouraging people to get involved in their local communities. s were supportive of the Director-General s position that it would not be appropriate for the BBC to be involved in this proposal s discussed recent reports on the BBC s use of private investigators. Members received assurances from the Director-General and Deputy Director- General that the occasional use by the BBC of private investigators complied with the Corporation s Editorial Guidelines The Trust noted the managerial arrangements that the Executive had put in place to take effect following the departure of the Deputy Director-General. The post of Deputy Director-General would be closed as part of the senior management review, which had targeted a 25% reduction in senior management costs by the end of BBC BUDGET FOR The Chief Financial Officer presented the draft BBC budget for , which had been prepared to reflect the priorities agreed in the new BBC strategy, Putting Quality First, and in the context of the new licence fee settlement. In addition, the budget proposals covered major infrastructure projects (including BBC North and the W1 building), an update on the Continuous Improvement Programme targeting efficiency savings of 3% per year, and plans for coverage of the sporting and cultural events in 2012: the London Olympics, Festival 2012 and the Queen s Diamond Jubilee s discussed the budget proposals, which had undergone scrutiny at the February Trust meeting and by the Trust s Finance and Compliance Committee. Members noted the additional information supplied by the Executive on key budget risks (such as inflation and licence fee evasion), indicative financial projections for the next six years, incorporating the BBC s extra obligations under the licence fee settlement, and how the strategic priorities set by the Trust had been reflected in the budget. Members noted that this was an interim budget that enabled the BBC to continue its core activities while the Executive worked further on its Delivering Quality First proposals The Trust approved the BBC budget and the Trust Unit budget for The Chief Financial Officer undertook to return to the Trust with further information

7 about inflation risks, as requested by the Trust The Chief Financial Officer presented an update to the Trust on the valuation of the BBC Pension Scheme. The formal assessment showed a pre-reform deficit of 1.6 billion and a post-reform deficit of 1.1 billion. The Executive sought approval from the Trust to enter into an 11 year repayment plan, making an initial payment of 110 million in 2011, followed by 60 million in 2012 and 2013, 100 million for the next three years and 75 million for the next five years. Having considered the recommendation of its Finance and Compliance Committee, the Trust approved the proposed pension deficit recovery plan. 37 EXECUTIVE FINANCE REPORT 37.1 The Chief Financial Officer presented the Executive s report which updated the Trust on the financial performance of the BBC for the nine months to 31 December The report had been previously scrutinised by the Trust s Finance and Compliance Committee and included information on income and expenditure, service licences, market risks and commercial businesses. The Trust noted the contents of the report. 38 THE BBC S STRATEGY FOR BBC WORLDWIDE 38.1 The Trust noted the agreed conflicts of interest process in place for discussion related to BBC Worldwide (see note at minute 46) The Chief Operating Officer and the Chief Financial Officer presented the BBC Group s proposed strategy for BBC Worldwide, which addressed issues previously raised by the Trust, including the BBC Group s vision statement for Worldwide; the need to maintain a clear focus on development of BBC intellectual property; the balance of risks involved in new investment; and the proposed digital strategy The Trust discussed the proposed strategy and expressed some continuing concerns about the commercial risks of investment in international businesses. The Trust approved the strategy and financial plan for Worldwide, including delivery of dividends within the parameters set by the BBC Group. The Trust approved the BBC Group s objective for Worldwide that it should support the BBC s public service mission by exploiting the commercial potential of BBC intellectual property The Director-General undertook to return to the Trust with proposals for controlling and reporting on the progress of Worldwide s investment in international businesses, with a particular focus on the level of local content production in general and the performance and impact of US production in particular.

8 39 PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD 39.1 The Chairman of the Audiences and Performance Committee (APC) introduced the performance dashboard for the final quarter of 2010, which had previously been considered by his committee. The dashboard was one of the main ways in which the Trust reviewed the performance of the BBC s UK public services Members noted the strong performance of the BBC across television, radio and online in this quarter, highlighted by an increase of nearly 40 minutes in the average weekly time spent per user on BBC services. Members noted that the perceptions of quality of a number of BBC Online sites which had fallen significantly following refreshes had partially recovered The Chairman of the APC noted the discussions that had taken place between Trust members and the Executive at the Trust s annual Services Day, which had taken place the previous day. He highlighted the strong performance of the BBC in terms of both quality and reach, and noted progress towards greater distinctiveness and improved audience portrayal in evidence across some BBC services. He said that distinctiveness would continue to be a focus for the Trust with the forthcoming service review of Radio Five Live and Five Live Sports Extra. He noted three areas where APC would follow up with the Executive: Radio 1 s performance amongst young listeners; BBC Online management controls; and the future of BBC children s output on BBC One and BBC Two as digital switch-over approaches. 40 BBC DIVERSITY STRATEGY The Chief Operating Officer presented the BBC s diversity strategy which had been prepared by the Executive in response to the requirements of the Equality Act The proposed strategy would be effective through to 2014 and would replace the existing equality schemes that were in place to cover race, disability and gender. The public sector equality duty element of the Equality Act 2010 requires organisations to give due regard to reducing persistent inequality and covers a wider set of protected characteristics : race, disability, sex, age, sexual orientation, religion/belief, marriage and civil partnership, gender reassignment, and pregnancy and maternity Members discussed the diversity strategy, noting the equality and diversity objectives proposed by Executive and the public sector equality duty. The proposed objectives included: advancing equal opportunities to diversify and develop the BBC s workforce and senior leaders; delivering high quality programming which reflects modern Britain; connecting with audiences; building in accessibility from the start when developing new products and services; and achieving systematic and consistent consideration of equality and diversity within BBC planning and review processes. Members noted that the strategic objectives were underpinned by divisional diversity action plans, which detail how the strategic objectives would be met in each department across the BBC. The divisional plans would be reviewed and published on an annual basis by the Executive, together with an annual report.

9 40.3 The Trust approved the proposed strategy, which would be published by the Executive. The Trust would receive annual updates from the Executive on progress against the strategy and legal compliance with the public sector equality duty. 41 EXECUTIVE ITEMS FOR NOTING 41.1 (a) BBC North update 42 MARK BYFORD 42.1 On behalf of the Trust, the Chairman expressed his thanks to the Deputy Director- General for his commitment to the BBC, and in particular to journalism, during his 32 years at the Corporation. The Deputy Director-General s first role at the BBC had been in the BBC Leeds Look North newsroom and before his appointment as Deputy Director-General in 2004 he had, among other roles, worked as Director of Regional Broadcasting and Director of the World Service. The Chairman noted that the March Trust meeting marked the 125th meeting of the BBC Trust or BBC Governors that had been attended by the Deputy Director-General. 43 OTHER BUSINESS 43.1 BBC Trust review of Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra terms of reference The Trust decided, on the recommendation of its Audiences and Performance Committee, to approve the terms of reference for the service reviews of Radio 5 Live and Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. 44 TRUST ITEMS FOR NOTING 44.1 (a) Putting Quality First strategic objectives measurement plans (b) NAO report on continuing drama (c) Minutes from committees and Audience Councils (d) Documents for sealing (e) Offline approvals 45 BUSINESS HANDLING AND COMMUNICATIONS 45.1 The Trust discussed the handling and communication of items considered at the meeting. 46 CONFLICT OF INTEREST 46.1 For discussion related to BBC Worldwide under item 38, David Liddiment received

10 a redacted version of the paper but did not leave the meeting. Mr Liddiment is a Non Executive Director of All3Media and, as such, is potentially conflicted on matters related to BBC Worldwide. This is declared in Mr Liddiment s register of interests, which is publicly available on the Trust s website.