Quality First Annual Report and Accounts 2011/12

As a public body the BBC has a responsibility to operate as transparently as possible. The Trust takes this duty seriously and has tasked the BBC with setting new standards in openness and transparency. We also aim to be open about how we work and the decisions we make.

The BBC now provides more information on its current and planned activities and how it spends the licence fee. Since 2009 the BBC has published the exact salaries and total remuneration for its most senior managers because the public expects the BBC to be transparent about executive pay. The expenses, hospitality received, register of gifts and any declarations of personal interests of this group are also published on a quarterly basis. The BBC now also discloses on its website the pay of all other senior managers in £5,000 bands and by generic job title and by division.

This year, at our request, the Executive began publishing updates showing how it is performing against some of its key objectives. More detailed information about the BBC's current and planned activities is in the 2012/13 summary work plan which describes the BBC's strategy, objectives and outline budget for the year ahead.

Next year we will continue to find new ways of operating transparently while still delivering value for money and meeting our objectives.

An open BBC Trust

The BBC Trust is directly accountable to licence fee payers; this is essential to maintaining the BBC's independence.

With direct accountability comes a responsibility to operate transparently.

We consult licence fee payers and industry on important decisions, we conduct audience research and we use our network of Audience Councils to help keep us informed on the views of licence fee payers across the UK.

When we make a decision, we publish evidence and explain our conclusions. We publish the findings of editorial appeal decisions, the outcomes of value-for-money and service licence reviews and the minutes of our monthly Trust meetings. All of this information is available on our website.

Trust work plan 2012/13

We also aim to be open about our future plans. Each year on our website we publish an overview of the work we know we can plan for in the coming year.

Our priority in 2012/13 is to keep the BBC focused on delivering its four strategic objectives. We will help it do so with the following planned work: reviewing BBC Online in autumn 2012 and the BBC's output for children (CBBC and Cbeebies) in early 2013; undertaking our third biannual review of the Window of Creative Competition in autumn 2012; overseeing the delivery of annual efficiency savings of 11% by 2016/17; and receiving NAO reports on the effectiveness of the BBC's financial management systems and on the BBC's move of a number of departments to Media City in Salford.

The Trust is the guardian of licence fee revenue and the public interest in the BBC. This year we will therefore oversee implementation of the new financial settlement and ensure that the governance and funding arrangements for the BBC's new obligations are in the best interests of licence fee payers.

Strategic objective

Set new standards in openness and transparency

This year the BBC published more information than before on its current and planned activities and how it spends the licence fee.

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