THE BBC governors, who have regulated and monitored the corporation since 1927, are to be scrapped and replaced by a board of trustees, writes Richard Brooks.

The government, which has had grave doubts about the system of governors since the Iraqi weapons row of 2003, hopes the trustees will subject the BBC to more rigorous and independent scrutiny.

Under the overhaul of the corporation’s governance to be unveiled in a white paper next week, an outside regulator, Ofcom, will also be given some role in looking at complaints made about the BBC.

In 2003 the governors sided outspokenly with the BBC’s management over a report by Andrew Gilligan on Radio 4 that suggested Downing Street had exaggerated the threat from Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.

The row culminated in the death of David Kelly, a weapons scientist. Gavyn Davies, then chairman of governors, resigned in January 2004 after Lord Hutton’s report into Kelly’s death criticised the role of the BBC.

As well as being more independent than the governors, now chaired by Michael Grade, the trustees will be expected to hold the management to account for the kinds of services and programmes the BBC transmits.

“The trust idea is fine in some ways, but it really is vital for this new body to be independent of both the BBC and government too,” said Lord Fowler, the former Conservative cabinet minister, who chairs the Lords select committee on the BBC charter review.

Fowler and his committee, which reported last Friday, concluded that parliament and the National Audit Office ought to have a role in scrutinising the BBC. He said: “Here we have a publicly funded body already getting £3 billion a year, rising to £4 billion with increases in the licence fee, and yet the way the BBC spends its money is not really accountable.”

The white paper will also state that the corporation can justify its licence fee only if it offers something distinct from commercial television and radio stations. This means the BBC will have to give a far clearer definition of public service broadcasting, and then stick to it, from next year when its new royal charter comes into effect.

The white paper will also tell the BBC to limit its commercial operations and say that a certain proportion of programmes must be made by outside production companies. In addition it will set out the limits of expansion into areas such as the internet, digital television and publishing.

The government remains sympathetic to the licence fee as a means of funding the BBC, at least for the next seven years. The level of the fee will not be set out in the white paper but will be made public in the summer.

Last autumn the BBC suggested it needed an annual increase equivalent to the rise in retail prices (currently 2.4%), plus 2.3% over the next seven years. The licence fee is now £126.50.

Commercial television companies, however, say this is too generous. The BBC’s licence fee income has risen considerably in recent years, in part because of rises in the fee but also because of the growing population and increasing numbers of single people, which has added 2m households.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Should Knox’s trial even have reached the courtroom?
• All that glitters is not sold in Wright’s world
• Believe it or not, Big Brother is your friend