Asked by: Lord Lebedev (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, as part of the upcoming BBC Charter review, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has conducted a study of how the BBC is fulfilling its duties with regard to impartiality; and if so, what the study found.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Under its Royal Charter, the BBC has a duty ‘to provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them’. In delivering on that duty, the BBC is independent from the government. It is the responsibility of Ofcom, as the BBC’s independent regulator, to hold the BBC to account for delivering on its Mission and Public Purposes, including due impartiality. Ofcom regularly reports on BBC performance, including in its annual reports on the BBC.
The government expects the BBC to uphold the highest editorial standards and to report the news accurately and impartially. The upcoming Charter Review will consider how best to ensure the BBC continues to deliver the high standards of reporting that the public expect of a national broadcaster.