Statement on network TV production in the nations
1. Within its overarching concern to secure strong creative output and value for money for audiences, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Trust wants the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ to draw on the capacity and skills of the whole UK in sourcing its network television production. We are convinced that the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ can do better here and, in discussion with the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ management, now set them a number of challenges.
2. As a first step, the Trust has decided to change the measure by which it sets targets for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ in this area. Previous Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ targets have been set by reference to its own definition of what counts as network production. For the future, the Trust has decided to apply the definition applied by Ofcom to the rest of the UK broadcasting industry. This is not a matter of semantics. The Ofcom definition is more demanding than the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's definition, and applying it in future represents a significant stretch.
3. For the UK as a whole, and reflecting the planned move to Salford, the Trust now expects the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ to ensure that 50 per cent of network production will be made outside London under the Ofcom definition by 2016.
4. Within this, the Trust has increased the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's target to source network production from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. During the Charter renewal process, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ committed itself to sourcing at least 17 per cent of its network production from the three nations under its own definition. While retaining the 17 per cent figure, the Trust has now decided to apply it to the more stretching Ofcom definition, and to require the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ to meet or exceed the target no later than the end of the current Charter in 2016. It is also setting the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ the intermediate target of achieving 12 per cent of delivery under the Ofcom definition by 2012 at the latest.
5. The Director-General has made a commitment that the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ should source a proportion of network programmes from Scotland, equivalent to Scotland's share of the UK population. The Trust challenges the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ to achieve a comparable approach in relation to Wales and Northern Ireland as well as Scotland. There will not be formal targets for individual nations. Nonetheless, on the basis of regular reports from the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, the Trust will monitor delivery from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland carefully to ensure that the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ is helping to build strong and sustainable network production in all three nations and the English regions within the timescales identified.
6. The Trust welcomes Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ management's shared commitment to making a reality of these aspirations. They offer the prospect of strong and sustainable network production from across the UK, responding to the concerns of audiences and helping to build the UK's creative economy. This is not something that the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ can achieve alone, but with these new aspirations it commits to playing its full part in the process.
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