Enclosure A PURPOSE REMITS: THE PUBLIC’S PRIORITIES FOR ACTION Purpose Remits identify the priorities set by the Trust to help the BBC keep focused on its remit and deliver the six Public Purposes laid down in the Royal Charter. They illustrate how the Trust sets the BBC’s strategic direction. Now the Remits are finalised and in place, the Executive team must respond to the Trust with plans to describe the BBC’s broad approach to delivering each of the priorities, highlighting the contribution of individual services and non-service activities. These plans will be published. To assist the Executive, this document highlights the areas of greatest importance to the public. In many cases, the BBC’s existing performance is meeting public expectations and the action required is to maintain standards. However, there are others where the public expects the BBC to improve its performance in meeting the Purposes1. These are highlighted, as are some priorities which are not necessarily of high importance to everyone, but are to some groups who have also made clear they want the BBC to work harder in these areas. The BBC has a complex public service mission and the Trust recognises that not all areas identified by the public or specific groups for more effort can be addressed at once. The Trust will take this into account in tracking and reporting performance, though we will be looking for evidence of clear understanding of what action is necessary to meet the public’s overall expectations in the BBC Executive’s formal response, which the Trust will publish early next year. Stimulating Creativity and Cultural Excellence Licence fee payers consider the provision of fresh and new ideas (Priority 1: Provide output that is distinctive and creative on all platforms) as very important indeed and there is a high expectation on the BBC, as a publicly funded broadcaster, to perform strongly on this2. However, as set out in the 2006/07 Annual Report, audience research shows a wide performance gap here. Since then, the Trust has completed further research to understand what is driving these perceptions. The research shows that the public do not want a radical change of direction and there is substantial support for the BBC providing programmes in all genres. However there is also a clear expectation that output should be fresh, consistent with core BBC values and provide a clear alternative to provision on other channels. We have shared this research with the Executive Team. The provision of a wide range of content that is both enjoyable and entertaining (Priority 4) is seen as very important by licence fee payers, and it is worth emphasising that this Priority expresses a requirement that the BBC should provide entertaining and enjoyable content across a full range of genres. The audience research identified a performance gap particularly amongst low approvers3 of the BBC and ethnic minority audiences4. This has led to a clear requirement from the Trust that the BBC’s six year plan reach out to new audiences, but without jeopardising the support of existing and loyal audiences. Sustaining Citizenship and Civil Society Licence fee payers consider this to be one of the most important purposes overall and it is encouraging that the BBC’s performance is considered to be strong. While, overall, the Priority to engage a wide audience in news, current affairs and other topical issues (Priority 2) is seen as being delivered effectively, there is not surprisingly a performance gap amongst low approvers of the BBC5. As before, the Executive is seeking to address this as part of its six year strategic plan. Licence fee payers within the devolved nations of the UK consider that the BBC could do more to help them understand how their nations are governed. Responses to the consultation also highlighted some concerns about the way devolution is reflected in network news coverage (Priority 4: Build greater understanding of the parliamentary process and political institutions governing the UK). The Trust recently announced a review of the BBC’s network news and factual coverage of the four UK nations which will consider this issue in some detail. In light of this, detailed plans for addressing this priority should await the outcome of this review, which is due to report in early summer 2008. The fifth Priority under this purpose (Enable audiences to access, understand and interact with different types of media) did not rate particularly highly in importance, although this was carried out before the issues of trust in the media became such a major issue over the summer. Nonetheless, licence fee payers see a performance gap here and the Trust is mindful of the need for the BBC to show leadership on such an important issue. Promoting Education and Learning Promoting Education and Learning is seen as core to the BBC’s public service remit by licence fee payers. Performance in delivering informal learning (Priority 1: Stimulate informal learning across a full range of subjects and issues for all audiences) is regarded as strong, but there is a gap in relation to the provision of formal learning (Priority 3: Promote and support formal educational goals for children and teenagers and support adult education, especially related to essential skills development). Amongst those licence fee payers with school age children, this ranks as the most important Priority of all. The Trust expects to receive from the Executive team early next year a fresh proposition for formal education provision in the light of the suspension of BBC Jam and will be looking to establish clarity on the future direction of this important area of provision at the earliest opportunity. Representing the UK, its Nations, Regions and Communities Overall, the Trust’s research shows that although this Purpose is not the top Priority for licence fee payers, it remains an important part of the BBC’s remit and there are some considerable performance gaps that need to be addressed. The Priority to represent the different nations, regions and communities to the rest of the UK (Priority 1) is one where licence fee payers across the UK see room for improvement, particularly in Northern Ireland and Scotland6. The Trust is aware that the Executive Board is preparing plans on the matter of representation and that the Trust is due to receive detailed proposals in the New Year. The provision of a range of output to meet the different needs of the nations, regions and communities (Priority 2) is also identified by licence fee payers as an area where the BBC could improve its performance. This is an issue discussed within the context of the six year strategic plan, and the Trust understands that the constraints of the licence fee settlement were such that ambitions here were scaled back from what was originally planned. Nonetheless the Trust has approved some key investments which should contribute towards closing the perceived performance gap. Although licence fee payers do not rate the Priority to reflect the different religious and other beliefs on the UK (Priority 5) as highly important, they do see a fairly wide performance gap. As a public service broadcaster, the BBC has an important role here and the Trust looks forward to considering Executive proposals on how licence fee payer concerns might be addressed. The research on the Priority to provide output in minority languages (Priority 6) indicates that there are concerns with the levels of indigenous language provision in Northern Ireland7. Audience Council Northern Ireland has consulted twice on this issue and, earlier this year, the Trust carried out its own analysis. As a result of this work more research was commissioned to gain a deeper understanding of the needs of the different communities in Northern Ireland. The results of this research will be considered by the Trust in early 2008, and should assist in the preparation of your plans for delivering the priorities. Bringing the UK to the World and the World to the UK This purpose is seen as highly important by licence fee payers and it is encouraging that the BBC is perceived as delivering this Purpose effectively with no significant gaps in performance. Emerging Communications Of all the Purposes, licence fee payers consider this as the least important. The Trust notes however research carried out for recent Public Value Tests that shows licence fee payers expect the BBC to at least keep pace with key technological developments and that there is a clear public demand for new services from the BBC. On the basis of its understanding of key market and technological trends and developments, the Trust fully appreciates the strategic importance of using new communications technologies for the future provision of public service content, as reflected in its approval of the six year strategic plans. The only Priority within this Remit where licence fee payers perceive a significant performance gap is that concerning the BBC’s support for Digital UK’s communications activity to build awareness for digital switchover (Priority 4). December 2007 Endnote 1 BBC Trust Purpose Remit Survey (BMRB, Feb 2007). See Annex A for complete summary of importance and performance ratings across all priorities measured. 2 Of the priorities that are important to most people, this is the one that has the most significant performance gap: ‘The BBC has lots of fresh and new ideas’ All adults (Importance 72%; Performance 51%; Gap -21 points); 3 Low approvers are people who rated the BBC between one and four out of ten when asked “Thinking about the BBC generally, what is your overall impression on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 means extremely unfavourable and 10 means extremely favourable?” 4 Priority statement: ‘The BBC has a wide range of enjoyable and entertaining programmes and content’. All adults (Importance 77%; Performance 68%; Gap -9 points); Low approvers (Importance 63%; Performance 32%; Gap -31 points); black audiences (Importance 83%; Performance 59%; Gap -24 points) 5 Priority statement: ‘The BBC makes news and current affairs and other topical issues interesting to me’. All adults (Importance 75%; Performance 73%; Gap -2 points); Low approvers (Importance 59%; Performance 49%; Gap -10 points) 6 Priority statement: ‘The BBC represents my area and my community to other people in the UK’. All adults (Importance 60%; Performance 42%; Gap -18 points); Scotland (Importance 57%; Performance 27% Gap -30 points); Northern Ireland (Importance 65%; Performance 39%; Gap -26 points) 7 Priority statement: ‘The BBC supports the [relevant] language(s) with programming and other content’. All UK indigenous language speakers (Importance 63%; Performance 40%; Gap -23 points); Northern Ireland indigenous language speakers (Importance 73%; Performance 36%; Gap -37 points) Annex A - Summary of Importance and Performance ratings for Purpose Priorities Source: BBC Trust Purpose Remit Survey (BMRB, Feb 2007) Importance Performance Gap Priority Statement 81 68 -13 * The BBC helps my children/teens with what they learn at school/college (Education) 80 81 1 The BBC ensures that audiences within the UK are aware of, and understand, what's going on in the world (Global) 77 68 -9 The BBC has a wide range of enjoyable and entertaining programmes and content (Creativity) 76 75 -1 The BBC helps audiences within the UK to understand and appreciate different cultures and lifestyles of people from around the world (Global) 75 73 -2 The BBC makes news and current affairs and other topical issues interesting to me (Citizenship) 74 74 0 The BBC sets the standard for high quality international journalism for audiences outside the UK(Global) 72 51 -21 The BBC has lots of fresh and new ideas (Creativity) 71 69 -2 The BBC sets the standard for high quality and independent journalism (Citizenship) 70 68 -2 The BBC enables me to learn different things (Education) 67 64 -3 The BBC encourages audiences outside the UK to enter into conversation and debate about current affairs and international issues (Global) 67 64 -3 The BBC helps me understand how the UK is governed politically (Citizenship) 66 66 0 The BBC provides programmes and content which cover a wide range of cultural and creative activities (Creativity) 66 68 2 The BBC provides me with the opportunity to share the same experiences with other people (like major events, live events and popular programmes) (Communities) 65 65 0 BBC coverage of news and current affairs has got me talking about them (Citizenship) 64 50 -14 The BBC caters for my area and my community (Communities) 63 40 -23 ** The BBC supports the [relevant] language(s) with programming and other content (Communities) 62 54 -8 The BBC helps me enjoy my interests, hobbies and passions (Creativity) (Continued on next page) (Continued from previous page) Importance Performance Gap Priority Statement 60 42 -18 The BBC represents my area and my community to other people in the UK (Communities) 54 53 -1 The BBC raises my awareness and understanding of different religious and other beliefs (Communities) 53 32 -21 The BBC helps me feel more involved in my local communities (Communities) 52 43 -9 The BBC introduces me to new interests, hobbies and passions (Creativity) 45 32 -13 The BBC reflects my religious and other beliefs appropriately (Communities) 44 43 -1 The BBC provides quality content that I find enjoyable or useful on the internet (Digital) 43 35 -8 The BBC has helped me understand how to use technology like interactive TV and the internet (Citizenship) 42 39 -3 Watching or listening to some programmes on the BBC has made me want to take part in a specific event or activity (Creativity) 36 37 1 The BBC provides quality content that I find enjoyable or useful on interactive TV (Digital) 29 27 -2 The BBC provides quality content that I find enjoyable or useful on DAB digital radio (Digital) 15 14 -1 The BBC provides quality content that I find enjoyable or useful on mobile phones (Digital) Ave: 60 53 -6 * All responsible for children under 18 years of age ** All who speak indigenous languages Notes: .. Results are based on all adults 15+ .. Statements are based on priorities contained within each Purpose identified as measurable using a quantitative survey .. Purpose to which the priority statement relates to is summarised in brackets .. Importance figures show the percentage of people rating the full priority statement as important / v important / vital .. Performance figures show the percentage of people agreeing with the priority statement .. Priority statements are ranked by personal importance .. Statements showing a considerable gap between performance and importance (P- I) are highlighted