Chairman's commentary on the strategy review of 02 March 2010

Sir Michael Lyons, BBC Chairman

02 March 2010

How should the BBC deliver its public service mission? That's the question we set out to answer when we instigated this strategy review.

The Reithian vision of "inform, educate and entertain" holds pretty good for the BBC today just as it did when it was first shaped nearly 90 years ago.

But today's BBC is a much more complex organisation than it was in the 1920s and it operates in a much more complex environment. For example, to truly deliver public value, the BBC has to serve all UK audiences with quality content. And with ever expanding platforms there are far more choices for the BBC to make about how it does this. So the question of how it delivers this vision is correspondingly more complex.

It's certainly not as simple as having a "Reith button" alongside the red button that the Trust or the Director General automatically hit to decide whether or not a programme or service is consistent with the BBC’s public purposes and it is then given the green light.

The reality for the BBC is that it faces increasingly difficult choices. Failure to make such choices would lead to limitless expansion, increasing demands for funding and corresponding impact on the wider market. That prospect is not one the Trust can accept.

The BBC has to focus on its public service role, put quality and distinctiveness first and make sure it is clear about the behaviours that are appropriate to its publicly funded status.

These are messages that have repeatedly been communicated to the Trust during its three year life span by audiences, industry and politicians of all complexions.

So back in July 2009 we challenged the Director General to undertake a full-scale review of the BBC's strategy, to decide what the future direction of the corporation ought to be.

Today we have published the Executive's proposals.

Taken in the round I believe that Mark Thompson has put together an overall vision for the BBC that is consistent with its enduring values and updates them for the 21st century.

In particular I welcome his vision for how the BBC can contribute to a genuine public space, free from political and commercial influence. That surely lies at the heart of what the BBC is and does.

Of course there will be aspects of the detailed proposals that some people like and aspects that some people don't. That's inevitable because, with its duty to serve all audiences, the BBC has to satisfy a wide range of tastes and views. Indeed there are areas where the Trust itself can say now "we agree" and areas which we wish to explore further.

But we have to acknowledge that in the current climate, with ever increasing demand for and scrutiny of value for money, combined with a proliferation in the ways media organisations can reach audiences, the BBC does need to clearly define its remit. It quite simply can't seek to do everything.

The public pick up the bill for the BBC and it is right that it constantly evolves to meet their expectations. This strategy review is a key part of that process.

We welcome the general direction of this report, although we will want to put it to the test with the public and industry and consider how it is delivered. We are clear it heads towards a more disciplined and sharply focused BBC. To repeat, that will mean some difficult choices. But we will not shrink from those choices where they are in the interests of licence fee payers.

The Trust will approve a strategy for the BBC which we will require the Executive to implement and to plan and report against.

Our ambition throughout this process has been to produce a strategy which offers ambition, quality and choice for all audiences. A strategy that improves value for money and fosters a spirit of openness and co-operation with others working in the public space. And a strategy that sets clear and predictable boundaries for the BBC and creates a willingness to cooperate with other parts of the industry.