BBC wants to cut red tape for closing services

Corporation’s talks with DCMS suggests it could axe a channel The BBC is in talks with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport about cutting the red tape involved in axing a service, the clearest indication the corporation could close a channel to save money. The DCMS and the BBC have held talks about changing the so-called public value test – a lengthy consultation the corporation must undertake if it wants to launch or close a service. According to sources the BBC wants to remove a stipulation that it must launch a PVT if it wants to close a service. “DCMS has had discussions with the BBC about the PVT provisions in the BBC agreement but no decisions have been reached,” said a spokesman for the department. Following last autumn’s stringent licence fee settlement, the BBC is looking at how it can make 20% cuts. The BBC Trust wrote to director general Mark Thompson earlier this year saying that so-called “salami slicing” – spreading cuts around equally – “would not be in the interests of licence payers”, even if it could achieve the scale of savings required. However those working on Thompson’s Delivering Quality First consultation, which aims to trim budgets by about 16%, were told that there would not be cuts in “services”. Thompson is trying to use DQF to work out how the BBC can manage with a six-year licence fee freeze and take on additional funding obligations such as BBC World Service. There has been keen debate between executives and the BBC Trust about “salami-slicing” versus axing a service. One insider said: “One of the things that makes it more difficult to close down a channel is the process that it is subject to.” Under article 25 of the BBC agreement that was laid out in 2007, the BBC Trust “will be required to apply the PVT before a decision is taken to make any significant change to the BBC’s UK public services (which can include introducing a new service or discontinuing a service).” “We are in discussions with the DCMS about some of the detail in the PVT provisions but no decision has been reached,” said a spokesman for the BBC Trust. According to sources, culture secretary Jeremy Hunt is not keen on the idea of changing the agreement. Closing a channel or drastically changing it as a result of the new “shotgun” licence fee settlement would undoubtedly reflect badly on the government. The lengthy consultation the BBC had to go through when it wanted to close 6 Music, a decision that was eventually reversed, proved how much bureaucracy the corporation has to go through to axe a service. PVT’s have been considered an important safeguard to making sure the rationale for launching – or closing – a service is thoroughly sound. To date the BBC Trust has conducted four PVTs – it approved the iPlayer, HD television and controversial Gaelic TV channel BBC Alba, but blocked a plan to launch a network of 60 local video sites that had incensed commercial rivals . • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . BBC BBC Trust Television industry Radio industry Tara Conlan guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 10, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.