Labour establishes panel to review future of BBC

A panel headed by Labour’s Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell is set to review the BBC’s operations to inform the Labour Party’s future plans for the broadcaster.

The panel will meet for the first time this week to assess a wide-ranging spectrum of the BBC’s functions, including its future as a public service broadcaster and its political independence.

Members include former BBC Director of Strategy and Digital James Purnell, the BBC’s first Director of Creative Diversity June Sarpong, former Granada TV Director Steven Morrison and Chair of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership Lou Cordwell.

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Powell said that the BBC is facing “serious headwinds” in an interview with the broadcaster over the weekend.

“The media climate is changing, with competition from online streaming giants, the switch to digital over linear TV, rising costs and stalled progress on prominence,” Powell said.

“The BBC consistently finds itself at the centre of culture wars and questions over its impartiality and independence. Continuing the status quo is not an option.”

Future funding

According to the Guardian, Labour has been planning a review into the BBC for a number of months, as decisions surrounding a future funding model and the BBC charter renewal approach.

The charter, an agreement between the BBC and the government which sets out the rules for the broadcaster to operate under, is due for renewal in 2027.

At the start of last year, then Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries froze the BBC licence fee for two years in a move that received criticism from the cultural sector. Dorries also alluded to the fee being abolished altogether to coincide with the next charter, before her successor Michelle Donelan announced plans to review the business case last autumn.

Current Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has not yet publicly declared her intentions for the broadcaster’s future funding model.

This weekend, Powell said the Labour Party is committed to retaining the BBC as “a universally-funded, public service, publicly-funded broadcaster”.

She added that the current Conservative government has “put the BBC under threat in terms of its future funding”.

Labour's panel will also review how the broadcaster’s Chairman and board are appointed, following recent controversy surrounding current Chair Richard Sharp, who is a former donor to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Powell called for an investigation into Sharp’s appointment, which is now ongoing.

A BBC spokesperson told the Guardian: “The BBC plays an important part in national life and we look forward to engaging with the review”.