Communications and Digital Committee

The committee scrutinised how the BBC’s next charter should support the UK creative economy, especially via regional production, partnerships, and skills development. Witnesses broadly agreed the BBC is already a major economic and skills catalyst, but differed on whether growth should become a distinct BBC public purpose: industry witnesses supported it with safeguards, while the Campaign for the Arts argued that growth should remain an outcome of existing purposes, not a core purpose itself. A major theme was regional impact: witnesses wanted more locally rooted production, cluster-building and outcome-based measures, but warned against simplistic regional quotas or London-versus-regions metrics. On skills, they stressed freelance precarity, mid-career development, AI/technology change, and the value of partnership models such as ScreenSkills, the BBC Academy, training passports and regional skills hubs. Several witnesses warned that ambitions for regional growth and training will be constrained unless BBC funding and workforce capacity are protected.

The committee scrutinised the BBC charter review through two panels: first, media and policy experts on the BBC’s response to global platforms, algorithmic prominence, partnerships, discoverability, at-risk genres, and whether R&D should return as a core purpose; second, independent producers on the health of the UK production sector, BBC commissioning, regional clusters, rights, skills, and whether the BBC should have a stronger growth mission. Witnesses broadly supported a more ambitious, coordinated PSB strategy, but stressed that regulation of platforms, not just charter wording, is needed. They repeatedly warned that the BBC’s funding decline, bureaucracy, and dependence on commercial platforms threaten its remit, while also arguing that any growth objective must remain anchored in public interest rather than commercialisation.

Baroness Hodge of Barking presented findings from the Independent Review of Arts Council England, focusing on preserving the arm’s-length principle, reforming ACE’s funding processes (NPOs and Let’s Create), and devolving decision-making to local communities. She pressed for sustained leadership within ACE, ongoing DCMS involvement, and an outward-facing remit toward artists and the public. Key policy positions include devolving national/local decision-making, reintroducing peer-form panels, longer planning cycles for arts organisations, and expanding philanthropy (with tax-relief considerations) to support regional access to excellence. She also discussed touring, education, and the economics of arts funding, including considerations of touring tax relief, regional disparities, and the potential for joint funding with DfE/DCMS to strengthen creative education. The session signals ongoing scrutiny of government commitments to fund and reform ACE, while highlighting concerns about regional inequality, bureaucratic burdens, and the need for more stable, diversified funding streams.

The session scrutinised how the UK should regulate AI training data use, licensing, transparency and governance. Witnesses from Google and Charismatic.ai argued for an enabling copyright framework, including a UK text-and-data-mining (TDM) exception to facilitate access deals for off-platform or archived content, while emphasising licensing for non-open content. Government ministers and civil servants outlined a “reset moment,” stressing ongoing consultation, a scheduled report by 18 March on AI and copyright, and a broader package approach covering transparency, licensing, and enforcement. The inquiry also considered practical governance options such as a Creative Content Exchange pilot to unlock value from public assets, and debated opt-out mechanisms vs. exemptions, with industry and creatives urged to collaborate while Government sets necessary safeguards (e.g., Online Safety Act actions against Grok, and potential Data Act/transparency measures). The session signalled UK-specific policy signals: a push for clarity, a balance between AI innovation and creator remuneration, and active consideration of open-source/sovereign UK AI experimentation alongside international comparisons.