BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEETING MINUTES (PART 2) Wednesday 12 July 2006 At Boardroom, Media Centre, White City

Transcription

1 BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEETING MINUTES (PART 2) Wednesday 12 July 2006 At Boardroom, Media Centre, White City Present: Michael Grade Chairman Anthony Salz Vice-Chairman Deborah Bull Governor Andrew Burns International Governor Ruth Deech Governor Dermot Gleeson Governor Fabian Monds National Governor for Northern Ireland Jeremy Peat National Governor for Scotland Angela Sarkis Governor Ranjit Sondhi Governor and Chairman of the English National Forum Richard Tait Governor Apologies: Merfyn Jones National Governor for Wales In attendance: Mark Thompson Director-General Mark Byford Deputy Director-General Zarin Patel Group Finance Director John Smith Chief Operating Officer Caroline Thomson Director, Strategy Nicholas Kroll Director of Governance Sally Kendall Head of Governors Business, Governance Unit Tina Stowell Head of Communications, Governance Unit Victoria Finney Adviser, Governors Business, Governance Unit For items: 172 & 173 David Levy Controller, Public Policy 172 & 173 Wilf White Chief Adviser, Public Policy Richard Waghorn Controller, Distribution 175 James Jackson Project Leader, Transmission Procurement Nicholas Eldred General Counsel 177 Adrian Van Klaveren Deputy Director, News 177 John Varney Chief Technology Officer 177 Richard Thomas Finance Director, News 179 John Willis Director, Factual & Learning 180 David Jordan Controller, Editorial Policy

2 AGENDA 1. Minutes and Matters Arising from the Board Meeting held on 14 June Director-General s Report 3. Financial Report: June The Targeted Help Scheme 5. Digital Switchover (Quarterly Update) 6. Investment Proposal for the Provision of Future Digital Transmission Services 7. Investment Proposal for the Provision of Future Coding and Multiplexing Services 8. Project Jupiter: News Media Asset Management System 9. Content Exploitation 10. Compliance Report on BBC Jam 11. Perception of Impartiality Tracking Survey 12. Any Other Business 13. Items for Noting 14. Reports from Committees of the Board of Governors 15. Key Issues and Minutes from Broadcasting Councils and the English National Forum 2

3 MINUTES 169 MINUTES OF AND MATTERS ARISING FROM THE BOARD MEETING HELD ON 14 JUNE 2006 Minutes The minutes of the Board s meeting on 14 June were approved as a correct record for signature. The Board agreed that the minutes be published with some redactions. Matters Arising A summary of the matters arising was noted. 170 DIRECTOR-GENERAL S REPORT The Director-General updated the Board on events of the past few weeks He reported on a number of editorial issues, including: - the fictitious news report at the start of the Children s Party at the Palace; - the Newsnight item on anti-english sentiment in Scotland; - a fictitious news bulletin involving Ian Huntley as part of an item about what Britain would be like if it was run by tabloids news editors on Radio 2 s Jeremy Vine Show; - the David Cameron interview on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross The Director-General advised the Board of the proposed move of Panorama to a half-hour slot at 8.30pm on Monday evenings with an increased run of 48 programmes (from 30) plus four one hour specials during the year. The Board welcomed the changes as a demonstration of BBC One s commitment to serious current affairs in peak. The Board received clarification from the Director- General of the impact of the changes on BBC One s Statements of Programme Policy (SoPP) commitments for 2006/7, and that the channel would deliver its commitment to deliver at least 90 hours of current affairs programmes, at least 48.5 hours of which would be in peak time. The Board noted that the move to peak time and the increase in the number of episodes from 30 to 48 meant that BBC One was not now planning to deliver the eight Panorama Specials in peak as set out in its SoPP, with four specials currently planned for the year The Director-General noted that he was meeting with the unions the following day to discuss union proposals to ballot BBC staff on industrial action over the BBC s pay offer and proposed changes to the Pensions Scheme Other items of note included: - programme highlights; - the publication of the BBC Worldwide Annual Review; - the handover of the facilities management services contract for properties in London and Scotland from Land Securities Trillium to Johnson Controls on 1 July; 3

4 - the announced departures from the BBC of: the Director of Factual and Learning; Controller, Northern Ireland; and Head of News and Current Affairs, Scotland; - the appointment of the new Director, BBC People During the discussion Governors sought an update on emerging insights from the BBC s high-definition television trial. 171 FINANCIAL REPORT: JUNE The Group Finance Director provided the Board with financial headlines for June ahead of the report being made available to Governors later in the month in line with the financial reporting timetable [withheld from published minutes] The Board considered a paper setting out the implications of the timing of the licence fee settlement, anticipated for the autumn [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] 173 THE TARGETED HELP SCHEME The Board considered a paper from management providing an update on discussions with Government regarding the targeted help scheme proposed in the Government s White Paper on the future of the BBC [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] 174 DIGITAL SWITCHOVER (QUARTERLY UPDATE) The Board considered a report from management on progress towards digital television switchover, including infrastructure issues and communications plans The Board welcomed the quarterly update on progress towards digital switchover. During the discussion, Governors noted the scale of the communications challenge and the BBC s role in this as well as Digital UK s, and was updated on the BBC s marketing strategy [withheld from published minutes] 4

5 175 INVESTMENT PROPOSAL FOR THE PROVISION OF FUTURE DIGITAL TRANSMISSION SERVICES The Board considered management s financial case for the BBC s investment in a range of new terrestrial transmission services which would provide BBC digital terrestrial television (DTT) coverage from switchover, and extend coverage of the BBC s national DAB digital radio network [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] 176 INVESTMENT PROPOSAL FOR THE PROVISION OF FUTURE CODING AND MULTIPLEXING SERVICES The Board considered management s financial case for the BBC s investment in a new centralised architecture for digital television coding and multiplexing equipment [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] 177 PROJECT JUPITER: NEWS MEDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] 5

6 177.5 [withheld from published minutes] 178 CONTENT EXPLOITATION a) Public Service / Commercial Boundary b) Archive Strategy [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] 179 COMPLIANCE REPORT ON BBC JAM The Board considered the latest monthly report on BBC Jam s compliance with its framework of conditions [withheld from published minutes] The Board was also updated on the status of discussions regarding the complementarity between BBC Jam and commercial products, and received confirmation from the Director of Strategy that the condition of complementarity applied across the service as a whole, and would therefore be judged once the service was fully operational The Board welcomed the performance of the service since its launch, and noted the initial audience research amongst BBC Jam s target audience which had indicated strong support for the service. 180 PERCEPTIONS OF IMPARTIALITY TRACKING SURVEY The Board considered the October 2005 March 2006 results of the tracking survey commissioned from MORI on public perceptions of the BBC s impartiality The Board noted that the paper had been amended to correct an error in the chart showing perceptions of bias (Q6, p3) The Board was updated on management s actions to address trends identified by 6

7 the survey, including the internal programme of work to share the survey results with journalists to ensure that a range of voices and perspectives were heard onair, and the external programme of meetings with MPs. 181 ANY OTHER BUSINESS Broadcasting House The Chief Operating Officer updated the Board on the Broadcasting House project [withheld from published minutes] [withheld from published minutes] Free Satellite [withheld from published minutes] 182 ITEMS FOR NOTING Broadcasting House Deed of Variation Approval BBC North Project Update BBC Pension Scheme Scheme Changes and Consultation Review of BBC Magazines Editorial Performance Charter Review and Ofcom Update Management Reports Documents for Sealing 183 REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS Unconfirmed Minutes from Finance & General Purposes committee held on 3 July 2006 Report from Audit Committee held on 15 June KEY ISSUES AND MINUTES FROM BROADCASTING COUNCILS AND THE ENGLISH NATIONAL FORUM Broadcasting Council Scotland: confirmed minutes of a meeting held on 5 May 2006 Broadcasting Council for Northern Ireland: confirmed minutes of a meeting held on 19 May 2006 Broadcasting Council for Wales: confirmed minutes of a meeting held on 12 May 2006 English National Forum: Yorkshire & Lincolnshire RAC: report from a meeting held on 6 June