BBC - Commissioning - Regional production for the BBC

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Regional production for the BBC

In 2008 the BBC made the following commitments to growing regional production outside of London:

• that 50% of network spend will be made outside London by 2016
• that 17% of network spend will come from the Nations by 2016 and that, in the interim, 12% of spend will come from the Nations by 2012
• that a proportion of network spend would be made in Scotland, equivalent to Scotland's share of the UK population, with a comparable approach in relation to Wales and Northern Ireland

Further information regarding these commitments can be found in the BBC Trust's press release in May 2008 and in Jana Bennett's speech to the RTS in October 2008.

Details are available for producers based in the Nations and Regions regarding BBC Network and Local Programming commissioning opportunities.

Ofcom's definitions of Regional Production

The BBC uses Ofcom's definitions of regional production.

These definitions state that in order for a commission to qualify as a Regional Production it must meet at least two out of the following three criteria:

• a.  the production company must have a substantive business and production based in the UK outside the M25. A base will be taken to be substantive if it is the usual place of employment of executives managing the regional business, of senior personnel involved in the production in question, and of senior personnel involved in seeking programme commissions;
• b.  at least 70% of the production budget (excluding the cost of on-screen talent, archive material and copyright costs) must be spent in the UK outside the M25; and
• c.  at least 50% of the production talent (i.e. not on-screen talent) by cost must have their usual place of employment in the UK outside the M25. Freelancers without a usual place of employment outside the M25 will nonetheless count for this purpose if they live outside the M25. Ofcom will consider as part of their 2004 review whether this percentage should rise over time.

Allocation of programmes to a Nation or English Region

Regional Productions are either allocated to a "Macro Region" (ie Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, North of England, Midlands & East, South of England) or classified as "Multi Region/Nation". 

The first step is to determine whether a programme qualifies as a Regional Production by meeting at least two out of the three criteria provided above. This is illustrated in the following table:

 

Example	Where substantive base is located	> 70% spend out of London	> 50% talent out of London?	Is this a Regional production?
Production A	Wales	Yes	Yes	Regional Production
Production B	Wales	Yes	No	Regional Production
Production C	Wales	No	No	Not a Regional Production
Production D	London	Yes	Yes	Regional Production

If it does qualify as a Regional Prioduction then the second step is to allocate to a “Macro Region” or to classify as "Multi Region/Nation". Ofcom's guidelines [external link] explain how this allocation works in detail, but in headline terms:

• a.  Substantive base remains the primary driver of where a Regional Production is allocated.
• b.  Regional Production is re-allocated to another Macro Region if more than 70% of spend and more than 50% of talent is in that particular region.
• c.  A new category "Multi Nation/Region production" has been created for Regional Productions from London Producers which do not meet both 70% of spend and 50% of talent in any one particular Macro Region.

This is illustrated in the following table: 

Example	Where substantive base is located	Where > 70% spend is	Where > 50% talent comes from	Allocated Macro Region
Production A	North	Various	Various	North
Production B	North	Scotland	Various	North
Production C	North	Scotland	Scotland	Scotland
Production D	Scotland	North	North	North
Production E	London	Scotland	Scotland	Scotland
Production F	London	Scotland	Various	"Multi Region"

Compliance with Ofcom definitions

Each production is required to submit I&RP Ofcom Compliance Forms so that the BBC has a formal record of the Independent and Regional Production status of that commission.

Please contact Bev Salt if you have any queries regarding the definitions.