BBC Charter Review

You may be aware that the summary of responses to the Government's consultation on the BBC's Charter have now been published, you can see it here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/504099/BBC_Charter_Review_Public_Consultation-_Summary_of_Responses.pdf.

The responses demonstrated that the vast majority of people value the BBC, a position which is shared by myself and my colleagues in Government.

I believe the BBC is one of the nation's most important institutions which is recognised internationally as a maker of quality content. However, we need to ask some hard questions during this Charter Review. The BBC is a national institution, paid for by the public and it will have spent more than £30 billion of public money over the current Charter period, a period when broadcasting technology has changed dramatically. There remains a case also that the BBC needs to be more distinctive, which the Director-General of the BBC said himself when he set out his plans for the Charter Renewal.

The Government will be announcing its proposals in due course, and I look forward to hearing more about them.