Twenty-Sixth Report - The BBC’s implementation of Across the UK
Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee
HC 426
17 April 2024
Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty-sixth report from Session 2023-24 · published 11 Jul 2025
Recommendations & Conclusions
14 results
2
Conclusion
Accepted
Compare current and forecast Across the UK delivery against original plans, refreshing analysis ongoing.
Conclusion
The BBC has not assessed how the changes it has made to the scope of Across the UK will affect the overall shape of the programme and the benefits it is intended to deliver. Since the BBC’s announcement in March …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The BBC agrees, stating that ATUK programme benefits are updated monthly as part of programme reporting, with significant changes managed through a control process and all forecasts and actuals compared to a programme baseline.
HM Treasury
View Details
4
Conclusion
Accepted
Align external and internal reporting on Across the UK programme progress to improve transparency.
Conclusion
The BBC’s reporting of Across the UK does not provide Parliament nor the public with a complete picture of progress with the programme, and risks causing confusion. The BBC considered its internal governance of programmes to be tight and specific, …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The BBC has already implemented the recommendation by making changes to its 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts, including clearly labelling Across the UK Programme content and separating it from other activities, and adding new performance data.
HM Treasury
View Details
5
Conclusion
Accepted
Urgently set out a framework to consistently measure Across the UK's tangible impacts for audiences.
Conclusion
The BBC’s plans for evaluating Across the UK are incomplete and it does not have in place an overall approach for assessing impact. To assess Across the UK, the BBC planned to measure changes to audience perception as well as …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The BBC states it has adapted its benefits tracking into an integrated tracker and, since Phase 2 commenced in April 2023, has approved full measurement frameworks for audience and economic impact, sharing them with the NAO. It continues to gather economic impact data and will shortly release further economic analysis.
HM Treasury
View Details
6
Recommendation
Accepted
Set out contingency plans for external partner changes and engage staff on Across the UK.
Recommendation
The BBC has not fully grasped the significance of the other bodies and communities it needs to work with effectively and which are crucial to the success of Across the UK. As part of Across the UK, the BBC has …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The BBC committed to engaging with staff by analysing staff survey results by location, engaging with divisional teams and regional leadership as part of a midpoint review, and conducting post-implementation reviews for relocations. It clarified that specific ATUK questions are not included in the main staff survey due to the small proportion of affected staff.
HM Treasury
View Details
1
Conclusion
Accepted
Committee took evidence from the BBC regarding its Across the UK programme implementation.
Conclusion
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the BBC on its implementation of its Across the UK programme.1
Government Response Summary
The BBC responded by stating its confidence that the Across the UK programme will exceed its financial and economic benefit targets, detailing existing success and benefits measures, and describing the positive impact on programming and regional economic growth.
HM Treasury
View Details
9
Conclusion
Accepted
BBC faces challenge to meet audio expenditure relocation targets after Concert Orchestra decision.
Conclusion
In June 2023, the BBC announced that its Concert Orchestra would not be moving outside London as it had originally planned. The relocation would have transferred £23 million of audio expenditure outside London. The BBC will need to find other …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The gap in the program expenditure caused by the decision to not relocate the BBC Concert Orchestra has been closed as a result of additional activity included in the Radio & Music business case approved in May 2024.
HM Treasury
View Details
12
Conclusion
Accepted
BBC met many Phase 1 targets but missed overall expenditure transfer and audio relocation goals.
Conclusion
The BBC met many, but not all, of the specific targets that it set for phase one of Across the UK to the end of March 2023. By March 2023, the BBC had already commissioned 110 new and returning drama …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The response states that because of the £700 million financial benefit created by the programme, Licence Fee payers have seen significant changes to programming, and 60% of network television spend is already outside London.
HM Treasury
View Details
13
Recommendation
Accepted
BBC expresses confidence in meeting remaining Across the UK expenditure targets despite initial delays.
Recommendation
The BBC’s initial lack of planning resulted in unrealistic timelines for some areas of the programme, such as moving roles and local recruitment. It took three months for it to catch up and meet its target for transferring overall expenditure …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The BBC has accelerated delivery of the programme, including the realization of financial benefits, and met its Phase One financial benefit target by June 2023, just one quarter behind plan. Target implementation date is December 2025.
HM Treasury
View Details
14
Conclusion
Accepted
BBC significantly behind audio expenditure relocation targets, with plans for recovery not yet finalised.
Conclusion
The BBC recognised that it was behind schedule with its plans to transfer audio expenditure outside London. By March 2023, the BBC spent 41% of its expenditure on network audio production outside London, an increase of just 1 percentage point …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The BBC states that its Radio and Music business plan was approved in May 2024 and is on track to deliver its contribution to the programme, including achieving 50% of network spend outside of London.
HM Treasury
View Details
18
Recommendation
Accepted
BBC acknowledges public confusion regarding the scope of "Across the UK" and its external communication.
Recommendation
We asked the BBC if it understood why there was public confusion about what Across the UK did, and did not, include. We observed that a member of the public might think that when something related to the decentralisation of …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The BBC has made changes to the BBC Annual Report and Accounts for Financial Year 2023-24 to clearly label narrative and statistics that relate to the Across the UK Programme and separate these from other pan-UK activity, and has included additional performance data.
HM Treasury
View Details
19
Conclusion
Accepted
BBC's "Across the UK" evaluation plan lacks detail and is significantly delayed.
Conclusion
In October 2021, the BBC agreed a phased approach to evaluating Across the UK. According to this plan, the BBC would not develop its methodology for evaluating Across the UK until phase two of the programme (April 2023 to the …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The BBC has strengthened its management of programme benefits, introducing a refreshed approach to programme management including a new integrated benefits tracker and full measurement frameworks for audience and economic impact.
HM Treasury
View Details
21
Conclusion
Accepted
BBC's separate evaluation frameworks for "Across the UK" lack integration.
Conclusion
We asked the BBC what precisely it would measure as part of its evaluation. It told us that it had developed frameworks for measuring two key criteria for the evaluation – the audiences framework and the economic framework. It explained …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The BBC has strengthened its management of programme benefits, introducing a refreshed approach to programme management including a new integrated benefits tracker.
HM Treasury
View Details
24
Recommendation
Accepted
BBC lacks contingency plans if local government partners withdraw "Across the UK" funding.
Recommendation
We asked the BBC about the potential impact on Across the UK of issues within local government finance, given that several local authorities were reportedly close to declaring themselves bankrupt, or had already in effect done so, and may have …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The Across the UK programme board is in regular dialogue with external partners to ensure the BBC is fully across any anticipated future issues related to delivery and the BBC continues to monitor the financial position of local partners.
HM Treasury
View Details
25
Recommendation
Accepted
BBC lacks specific staff data on "Across the UK" impact, engaged staff late.
Recommendation
We asked the BBC what specific data its management had to tell it what its staff thought about Across the UK. It told us it did not have any specific data but said it had a comprehensive staff survey where …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The BBC will improve monitoring of staff views by analysing staff survey results by base/location, engaging with divisional teams and regional base leadership for feedback as part of the midpoint review, and conducting post-implementation reviews for divisional relocations. Target implementation date is December 2025.
HM Treasury
View Details