The BBC Audience Councils are advisory bodies of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the BBC. There are four Audience Councils – for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The Audience Councils play an important role in providing the Trust with informed insights on the views, needs and interests of audiences in their respective nations, and on how well the BBC is serving these audiences and delivering its public purposes.

Audience Council members are appointed by the BBC Trust, usually for a term of three years, as independent volunteers from outside the BBC. Each Council is chaired by the Trust member for the relevant nation.

The Audience Councils bring the views and perspectives of local audiences to bear on the work of the Trust in a number of ways:

• They assess how well the BBC is performing for audiences in their nation, most notably through an annual report to the Trust.

• They provide input into the Trust decision-making process, for instance in reviews of services or policies, or decisions about major changes to services.

• They identify emerging issues of importance to local audiences which inform the Trust’s annual workplan.