Public Service Broadcasting (Communications Committee Report)

My Lords, it is a privilege to serve on this Select Committee under the excellent chairmanship of the noble Lord, Lord Fowler. He has eloquently expressed many of the concerns of those on the committee. The case for public service broadcasting has never simply been about certain subject matters themselves, but about how specialist knowledge of those genres within the industry can help to inform other programme-making and, in turn, permeate our culture. No aspect of public service programming should ever be seen as a weight around the neck of broadcasters, but rather as an opportunity to enrich the fabric of our shared society. The loss of some of that sense of responsibility and the chasing of ratings as a primary objective have led to some gaping sectors of programming which the marketplace, if left to itself, would simply not provide. In other words, there are certain definable core elements of public service content that should continue to be supported. The noble Lord, Lord Fowler, alluded to that at the beginning of his speech. In connection with that, I was delighted when the imaginative plans for MediaCityUK in Salford were announced because among the combination of creative ingredients there seemed to be a clear commitment to enhancing some of those core elements of public service broadcasting. The BBC insists that its plans for moving departments are on course, and that includes children’s programmes, but what children’s programmes? Many of us are dismayed about the diminution of quantity and quality in children’s television provision. Some noble Lords will be too young to remember "Blue Peter", "Crackerjack" or "The Railway Children". Such programmes owed much to the fact that those who commissioned them were deeply conscious of their role as cultural mediators and, in a sense, still bore the Reithian torch of, ""everything that was best in every department of human knowledge, endeavour and achievement"." Of course, we are no longer in a Reithian age, but nevertheless there are certain norms that are true in each generation. As the Voice of the Listener and Viewer has astutely observed, the quality of programmes children watch as they grow will affect the quality of our society when they form the adult population. I find it enormously disappointing and deeply concerning that this aspect of public service broadcasting appears to be given such short shrift. Meanwhile, ITV has pulled out of the Salford plans and will now remain in Manchester in new accommodation. With both those cities in my diocese, for me to make an appropriately judged comment would require more than the wisdom of Solomon. However, I can say that this withdrawal by ITV may have a significant impact on the training facilities and experience that are a key aspect of MediaCityUK’s proposed role. As the noble Lord, Lord Puttnam, told our Select Committee in its current taking of evidence, when ITV was released from so much of its PSB obligation, it virtually walked away from its commitment to training. That is very serious, not least for the future of public service broadcasting of quality. The third major ingredient in MediaCityUK was heralded as the independent programme-makers, which were part of the trio with BBC and ITV that would make it a world-class centre and enhance public service broadcasting. But the chairman of Northwest Vision and Media, a strategic authority for the creative industries in the region, said last month that broadcasters and educational establishments, which include the forward-looking media studies department at Salford University, will need to have the resources to get the benefit of the lower-cost content that could be made in these more modern methods. He said: ""The whole thing is a bit of a circle"." That reinforces my huge concern that the training opportunities, which were such a key part of the imaginative MediaCityUK plans, may become much less than hoped for. That is so serious because our national reputation for high-quality public service broadcasting in particular has depended on high-quality training. I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Puttnam, will forgive me for quoting him again. He said that an abundance of talent of every kind is the only certain way of ensuring a bright future for the whole of the sector. Another department destined for MediaCityUK is religion and ethics, which, along with children’s programmes and local and regional television news, is an aspect of public service broadcasting mentioned in our report and specified as a requirement in the Communications Act 2003. In 2007, an Ofcom survey showed that 75 per cent of people believe that, ""TV should help to promote understanding of religions, cultures & lifestyles"." This week, two top award-winning programmes came from the BBC religion and ethics department. They were called "Around the World in 80 Faiths" and "Miracle on the Estate", the latter of which was filmed in Manchester’s most deprived area. Those programmes demonstrated well PSB’s role in promoting understanding and social cohesion. I am glad to note that the BBC has established a standing committee on religion and belief. No other genre in the BBC has this. It is to be chaired by my friend, the right reverend Prelate the Lord Bishop of Norwich, who cannot be in his place today. It will reflect the diversity of the nation’s religions and those of no faith. The director-general of the BBC has personally assured me of the corporation’s determination to strengthen its religious output as part of the BBC’s public service broadcasting remit. I welcome that and will watch and listen closely for it. Public service broadcasting that fails to reflect the complex realities of faith in the modern world will fall short of helping people to understand themselves, the communities in which they live and the global issues we all face. The composer, James MacMillan, in a lecture to the Sandford St Martin Trust, which I chaired last year, said that, ""religion is, and will continue to be, for good and for ill, a constant in humanity’s narrative about itself"." Therefore, I find it curious that although the Select Committee’s first recommendation specifically mentions programmes dealing with religion and other beliefs, the Government’s response mentions all the other core elements of public service broadcasting that the noble Lord, Lord Fowler, cited, included in our recommendation, but they exclude religion and other beliefs. Why? Perhaps it is included in the phrase, "among other things". But what does that mean? Is it meant to cover a multitude of sins or a plurality of religions? If it is the latter—for I hope that there can be no other conclusion—why is it so squeamish? In the light of what must have been a conscious omission, the final sentence of the Government’s response to our recommendation sounds a bit ominous. They say: ""There may well be a need to balance competing priorities"." Perhaps I have succumbed to a fit of paranoia and, if so, I am sure that the Minister will be quick to reassure me. Part of public service broadcasting strength in this country is its ability to touch mass audiences and not to be consigned to a ghetto. The opportunity now is for PSB to be available on as many platforms as possible—in other words, to expand and not to decline. Further withdrawal, for example from local TV news, would have an adverse effect in many of the places where I serve. It would hit local pride and community cohesion. So I hope very much that the Government will soon come to a decision about, for example, Ofcom’s proposals for independently funded news consortia and the BBC’s counterview, to ensure the continuing plurality of regional news. It really does affect places such as Manchester. The noble Lord, Lord Fowler, mentioned the decline of local newspapers, and that is demonstrably true across Greater Manchester. Only last week, I stood among the few remaining staff in the huge, almost empty building that contained what was Rochdale’s once hugely successful newspaper. Although still valued, it is sadly only a shadow of its former self. What is clear in our report and the Government’s response is that public service broadcasting simply must not be left to the BBC alone. Partnerships would be a step in the right direction, but funding issues require tenacious long-sightedness and a genuinely sustainable model that does not risk scuppering the long-term future of PSB because of short-term expediency, an unwillingness to face up to tough questions or a desire to shrink from radical interventions. Ofcom research showing that the public are willing to pay for PSB over and above the licence fee should not be jettisoned just because of the recession; that will end. Nor is the advertising situation terminally hopeless. The rise of internet players such as Channel 4’s 4 On Demand opens new doors for internet advertising, and the on-demand audio channel Spotify is an example of the successful provision of free advertising-funded web content. On that subject, a pot of money from which broadcasters could bid for PSB funding could be part of the solution. While we all agreed on the committee that there is opposition to top-slicing the licence fee, and from some quarters to the proposed diversion of ring-fenced digital switchover funds to help other broadcasters after 2012, I wonder whether negligible inflation allows enough slack in the RPI-linked licence fee to make this at least worth revisiting. Whatever options for funding are chosen, securing a sustainable future for public service broadcasting cannot be left to chance. The Government’s response, so far as it goes, is encouraging and I look forward to their forthcoming report on digital Britain. I pray God, and it must be permissible for me to say that from these Benches, that a thriving dynamic plurality of public service broadcasting, which for so long has been such a key ingredient in what has made British broadcasting the envy of the world, will continue to inform and enlighten our culture in the United Kingdom.