The BBC's Radio and Music business plan was approved in May 2024, and it is confident it's on track to complete audio team relocations by April 2025. However, the apprentice program is under review due to savings plans, and future targets may need revision, though the BBC is exploring other ways to maximize apprentice numbers.

The BBC will review delivery of the Across the UK programme to ensure the programme is still forecast to deliver its intended benefits. The BBC forecasts comfortably meeting the financial benefit of the ATUK programme and their goal is to drive to statistically significant reduction in the audience portrayal gap between UK regions by the end of the ATUK programme in 2027-28. External research from PwC concluded that BBC ATUK spend is forecast to lead to 4,750 new creative businesses and 45,000 additional jobs outside London.

The government acknowledges that the BBC had made changes to the programme following its original public announcement in March 2021, clarifying that the ATUK program business plan was set after the decision to remove Local and Nation’s journalism commitments from the program scope and deliver them as part of a separate program of work.

The government notes the BBC's claims of significant changes to programming, with 60% of network television spend outside London and a projected 50% of radio and music spend invested outside the capital by the end of the current Charter.

The response notes that BBC Local and Nations initiatives have been delivered by BBC Nations since October 2021, which is when the decision was made to remove Local and Nation’s journalism commitments from the ATUK program scope.

The BBC has supported over 1,300 apprentices, but the apprentice program has been impacted by significant savings plans, so they are reviewing the ability to deliver their full apprentice target in 2025.

The apprentice programme has been impacted by significant savings plans across the BBC, including reductions to staff headcount and the BBC’s ability to deliver its full apprentice target in 2025 is currently being reviewed and it may be necessary to revise future apprentice numbers to a more sustainable position for the organisation. The BBC continues to explore ways to maximise apprentice numbers in other ways, including working with partner organizations and using levy transfer funding to support apprentices in external businesses.

The government acknowledges that the BBC had made changes to the programme following its original public announcement in March 2021, clarifying that the ATUK program business plan was set after the decision to remove Local and Nation’s journalism commitments from the program scope and deliver them as part of a separate program of work.

The BBC has strengthened its management of programme benefits, including introducing a refreshed approach to programme management and has adapted its benefits tracking to produce a new integrated benefits tracker which provides a holistic view of benefits tracking for the program.

The government notes that the BBC has also relocated editorial decision-making, more than doubling the number of network television commissioners based outside London from 15 to 41 and that the BBC is forecasting to comfortably meet the financial benefit of the ATUK programme.

The government notes the forecasted regional economic benefits of the shift in editorial spend, including PwC's conclusion that BBC ATUK spend is forecast to lead to 4,750 new creative businesses and 45,000 additional jobs outside London and that BBC has commissioned a range of further economic impact analyses.