IMMEDIATE
TUESDAY 2 AUGUST 2005

LORDS BBC CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE EXTENDS INQUIRY TO FOCUS ON RELIGIOUS, SPORTS AND REGIONAL BROADCASTING AND THE ROLE OF THE WORLD SERVICE

The House of Lords Select Committee on the BBC Charter Review is extending its inquiry into the BBC.

The Committee's first report on the Government's Green Paper " Review of the BBC's Royal Charter: A strong BBC, independent of Government" will be published in late October. The Committee will then conduct a short inquiry into specific areas of BBC including religious, sporting and regional  broadcasting and the BBC World Service.*

In particular, it seeks comments on:

The Broadcasting of Sport

• Should the BBC have a duty to bid for certain sports events?

• Is the BBC too aggressive in the way it bids for sports rights? Should there be an independent review of the way the BBC bids for sports rights?

Broadcasting in the Nations and Regions

• Does the BBC's proposed move to Manchester represent value for money for the licence payer? Should the BBC continue to decentralise?

• Should the BBC move towards "ultra-local" services? If so, what form should such services take? Should the BBC provide stand-alone local services or work in partnership with other non-profit distributing organisations?

The BBC World Service

• Should the BBC World Service seek to review its international services? If so, what countries should it enter and what new services should it provide?

Religious Broadcasting

• Do different faiths (including no faith beliefs) figure sufficiently in BBC programmes and services?

• How should faiths be represented in BBC programmes, services and governance?

The BBC as commissioner versus broadcaster

• In the context of the digital revolution is the future of the BBC principally as a producer and commissioner of high quality programming or as a broadcaster?

Connecting to the licence fee payer

• What more can the BBC do better involve the public in its decision making processes?

* Any written evidence submitted to the current inquiry into the Green Paper will be considered relevant to the new inquiry. There is no need to resubmit such evidence.

GUIDANCE FOR THOSE SUBMITTING WRITTEN EVIDENCE

Submissions should be sent to :

Rita Logan
Select Committee on the BBC Review
House of Lords
London SW1A 0PW
Tel 020 7219 5765
Fax 020 7219 4931 
and preferably also as an email attachment to  loganr@parliament.uk  

The deadline for submitting written evidence is Monday 10 October 2005.

Please ensure that you include relevant contact details. Evidence should be attributed and dated, with a note of your name and position, and should state whether it is submitted on an individual or corporate basis.

Short submissions of 6 pages or fewer are preferred; longer submissions should include a summary. Evidence sent as hard copy should be clearly printed or typed on single sides of A4 paper, unstapled.  Paragraphs should be numbered.  If drawings or charts are included, we ask that these are black-and-white and of camera-ready quality.

Evidence becomes the property of the Committee, and may be printed or circulated by the Committee. You may publish your evidence yourself, but in doing so you should indicate that it was prepared for the Committee. The Committee will invite some of those who submit written evidence to give oral evidence, usually in public at Westminster. Public sessions will be held in late 2005; transcripts will be published.

You can follow the inquiry via the Committee web pages, accessed from www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/bbccharter.cfm

This is a public call for evidence. Please bring it to the attention of other groups and individuals who may not have received a copy direct.

[ENDS]