28 February 2003
Government ministers have conceded that they will not stand in the way of attempts to make the BBC more accountable to licence-payers.
MPs rejected proposals to open the corporation up to public scrutiny when the Communications Bill was debated on February 25. But culture minister Kim Howells conceded that the government would not block moves to allow the National Audit Office to examine how the BBC spends public money.
Speaking in the Commons, Public Accounts Committee chair Edward Leigh said: 'Why should it be the case that in one part of the public sector – the BBC is effectively a part of the public sector – executives are not held to account by shareholders, of whom there are none, and are not subject to discipline under the Companies Act 1989, but are not accountable to Parliament either?'
The National Audit Office is now likely to be given free access to the BBC's accounts.
Currently exempted from any value-for-money investigations, BBC officials have argued against any attempts to examine how it manages its budget. A BBC spokesman said any moves to audit the corporation 'could seriously compromise its independence and harm public sector programming'.
But Labour peer David Lipsey said he was prepared to table an amendment to the bill when it is debated in the Lords.
He told Public Finance: 'I will table an amendment if the government does not put something through. It is a completely understandable, but false, fear that the BBC integrity will be compromised. It will not.'
PFfeb2003
