Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what preparatory steps he is taking in advance of the mid-term review of the Royal Charter for the continuance of the BBC; what timeline has been set out for those preparations over the next 12 months; and whether terms of reference have been drafted for that review which will be made publicly available.
The Royal Charter sets out that the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport must determine the scope and terms of reference (including the timing) of the review following consultation with the BBC, Ofcom, the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers and the Northern Ireland Ministers.
The Mid-Term Review must not be undertaken before 2022 but the government has been clear that preparatory work will begin immediately.