BBC Trust

Speaking after the Trust meeting today, Chairman Sir Michael Lyons said:

"All of us at the BBC have constantly to remind ourselves that the guaranteed and privileged funding at our disposal is coming from people who have no choice but to pay it. This is the public's BBC and the public pays for it with the licence fee. And those same people have made it absolutely clear that they want quality, value and something a bit special in return. After six months of very detailed work by the management and rigorous testing and challenge from the BBC Trust, we are confident that the plans we have approved today will safeguard the core values of the BBC at a time of radical and accelerating change in technology, markets and audience expectations."

The Trust has issued the following statement:

Approval of the Director-General's strategic framework Delivering Creative Future represents the conclusion of six months of discussions in which the Trust has brought the concerns of audiences and the delivery of the BBC's public purposes to the centre of the debate.

The Trust is confident that the management's strategy should safeguard the core values of the BBC at a time of radical and accelerating change in technology, markets and audience expectations. Inevitably, there are difficult choices to be made, heightened by a tight funding settlement. But at the heart of the strategic plan remains a firm commitment to the delivery of the BBC's public purposes through high quality and distinctive creative content. It includes efficiency savings to free up resources for programming and measures to reprioritise spend to extract greater value for audiences.

The final outcome reflects the challenges we have set for the BBC in the course of our discussions:

• Distinctiveness: safeguarding investment in areas in which the BBC's reputation as an outstanding public service broadcaster rests – news, knowledge-building, drama, comedy – with output that is distinctive and defined by creative risk-taking; scaling back investment from areas which are not delivering enough public value; and ensuring no increase in peak-time repeats on BBC One.
• Sustainable quality: securing maximum value out of every licence fee, with a new 3% annual efficiency target; using new technology to deliver quality, accessibility and convenience to audiences; and reserving a creative contingency fund so the BBC can respond to unforeseen creative opportunities.
• Value for all: modernising the BBC for the 21st century, reaching out to new audiences without jeopardising the support of its existing loyal audiences. Indeed, demonstrating clearly to those loyal audiences that the BBC will protect that which they already value.

The Trust does not underestimate the challenge which this sets for the BBC and for its staff and contributors. We value the continuing commitment and creativity of staff – they are the people who deliver the vision. There is a shared ambition between staff and audiences that the quality of the BBC's programmes and content should be safeguarded and, as implementation of this strategy unfolds, the Trust will remain vigilant to ensure this is not put at risk.

What the Trust has approved

The BBC Trust is responsible for setting the Corporation's strategic direction and its high level budgets so that the BBC meets the six public purposes laid down in the Royal Charter. Once the strategic direction is set and the clear destination agreed with the Trust, it is for the Director-General to develop in greater detail how that vision will become a reality. The six-year strategy the Trust has approved includes:

• A commitment to a wide range of distinctive, quality programmes on television, radio and online to reach the widest range of audiences; improving the accessibility of BBC programmes, particularly for those audiences who don't currently receive full value for their licence fee; and a new approach to local BBC services.
• Safeguarding the existing range of quality provision in BBC news and current affairs and, through greater efficiencies, creating new ways for new audiences to access quality BBC journalism; and doing the same for factual and knowledge programmes.
• 10% fewer programmes commissioned, so that our programme core is of high quality and is distinctive, delivered when and where most convenient to audiences, thereby extracting most value for the public.
• Confirmation from the BBC Executive that the BBC can deliver total annual net efficiencies of 3% each year.

How the Trust will call the Executive to account for delivery

Today's decision is an important milestone. But it is not the end of the story. The Trust will call the Executive to account for delivery of the strategy in a way which matches our shared vision, the goals we have set and the aspiration of audiences. For audiences, priorities include the delivery of distinctiveness and maximising efficiency to recycle resources to quality programmes.

Early actions we have called for include more detailed strategies for formal learning; a strategy for network commissioning across the UK; and, as part of bearing down on costs not directly linked to programming, detailed strategies on distribution and technology. We have approved in principle the sale of Television Centre and requested a more detailed strategy on the BBC's property portfolio.

Among the Trust's further work:

• We will continue to listen carefully to audiences and staff for we understand the complexity of the changes to be made and are intent that our decisions serve only to strengthen the BBC's ability to serve its public purposes.
• We shall require detailed reporting from the Executive against the strategy and report annually, paying particular attention to the perception of quality and delivery of public value.
• We shall review each BBC service at least once during the six-year period. Audience research and opinion will form a key part of each service review.
• Where needed, we shall subject specific proposals to formal processes of approval, including Public Value Tests if necessary; consider the impact of significant changes on regulatory obligations; and, as part of these processes, consult audiences and other interests as appropriate.
• We shall work with the Executive to firm up definitions of distinctiveness and innovation and ensure that they are fully understood and followed up within the BBC.
• We have invited the National Audit Office to work with us on measurement of efficiency savings. Our aim is to improve the BBC's accountability to licence fee payers and assure everyone that quality is not being affected in the drive for savings. The BBC's efficiencies will be independently verified each year and progress included in the Annual Report and Accounts.
• Each year the Executive will present a detailed three-year rolling budget for approval by the Trust.
• The Trust's study later this year of the BBC's economic value will include a specific assessment of each of the UK nations.

In all this work, the Trust will maintain its oversight of the BBC's output and ensure that it meets our expectations of quality and range. We shall continue to put the interests of audiences at the heart of our engagement with the Executive, and we shall report back to audiences as the strategy is delivered over the years ahead.