Royal Charter review

Our response made the case for the BBC as a vital national asset – one that belongs to everyone in the UK and represents a shared investment in our culture, our communities, our economy and our democracy at a time when this has never been more needed. Yet it was also clear-eyed about the growing jeopardy – both for the BBC and the UK as a whole.

The risks for the BBC and the future of public service broadcasting are clear. Huge changes in the media market, audience behaviours, and an outdated funding model mean that, without real reform in this Charter Review, the BBC will no longer be able to deliver its core mission with the services the public has relied on in the past, let alone do more in the future.

Over the course of this Charter period, our financial pressures have intensified significantly. Our licence fee income last year was around a quarter lower – equivalent to £1.2 billion in real terms – than at the start of the Charter. The BBC takes its responsibility to deliver maximum value for public money very seriously. We have already made over £1.5 billion of savings during this Charter and have around half a billion more to deliver. There are extremely tough choices to make in the next two years, even before the new Charter period.

But what is at stake for the UK is far more profound. Across the world, disinformation is thriving and trust in institutions is weakening. Many people feel increasingly divided, isolated, or unsure about the reliability of what they see online.

In this context, the UK’s ability to access trusted, independent information is more important than ever – and the implications reach into national security itself. Countries with media vulnerable to polarisation and capture are also more vulnerable to democratic disruption. The role of the BBC World Service, with its unrivalled global trust and reach, is therefore not just cultural or diplomatic: it is a critical piece of national security infrastructure.

At the same time, the UK urgently needs to support sectors with the greatest potential for growth. Our creative industries – anchored by the BBC – remain one of the UK’s greatest economic success stories. Yet they have been fundamentally disrupted by global tech giants and streaming platforms whose algorithms increasingly shape what audiences discover.

Without intervention, we risk a future in which UK stories are marginalised, domestic commissioning declines, and our creative economy suffers.

This is a decisive moment. As new technologies, particularly AI, reshape daily life, the UK must make choices that ensure everyone can continue to access trustworthy news and information, content that reflects our society, and opportunities that support talent and growth across every region. Our founding mission – to inform, educate and entertain everyone – was conceived more than a century ago as a deliberate, universal intervention in the public interest. We now face a similar moment of choice and opportunity.

Today the BBC remains the UK’s most-used brand for media – reaching on average 94% of adults monthly. We are the world’s most trusted provider of international news, with a weekly audience of 467 million. Meanwhile we continue to sit at the heart of the UK’s creative and cultural life, creating content that provides millions with inspiration, escapism and joy every single day.

This is the foundation on which we have produced our response to the Green Paper. Our plans focus on three roles that are essential in today’s world: to pursue truth with no agenda; to back homegrown storytelling and to bring people together.

Based on these roles, we have set out ambitious proposals to provide audiences with outstanding value in the years ahead whilst strengthening the UK’s democracy, creative economy, and society. These include maintaining an unrivalled mix of content and services across TV, radio and online, but also seizing new opportunities to meet emerging public needs.

We propose doing more to help tackle the risks of disinformation in our society, giving audiences the tools they need to critically assess what they see whilst supporting local news provision and grassroots democracy. We aim to increase the BBC’s reach and impact in trusted news worldwide, as part of a new era for UK security, trade and influence.

We want to continue to champion UK talent and safeguard the authentic homegrown content that UK audiences love, supporting our cultural wealth as part of a unifying national story.

We want to evolve BBC Bitesize to make personalised, interactive learning opportunities available to every child, regardless of background. And we aim to ensure that the BBC can go further in supporting the creative economy, unlocking growth in the nations and regions and enhancing the global competitiveness of the UK.

But delivering on these plans requires radical reform – of both the BBC and the framework in which we operate. Our response makes clear that we are ready
to keep driving organisational change.

We want to accelerate our shift to reach more audiences where they are, including on third‑party services such as YouTube. We want to open up key BBC services – such as iPlayer and Sounds – to other UK content providers, so the country can retain a scaled, competitive, public service media ecosystem. And we want to keep moving money and power across the UK to fuel economic growth, supporting jobs and skills and strengthening the creative economy in all four UK nations.

We recognise very clearly the need for deeper efficiency and commercial growth. We are committed to delivering maximum value for money and to expanding commercial returns that can supplement public funding and be reinvested into public service content.

However, success now also requires the Government to make bold choices. The Charter Review is an opportunity to secure a universal public service that is fit for the future. The BBC is seeking a new Charter that will support its transformation, delivering an organisation that is more independent, more sustainable and more responsive.

Independence – editorial, financial, and operational – is fundamental to public trust. We are calling for the next Charter to remove a fixed end date to avoid unnecessary political pressure, improve the governance of Board appointments, and set out a reformed approach to how our funding is agreed.

A modernised funding model is essential. The current system – where 94% of adults use our services on average per month but fewer than 80% of households contribute – is no longer sustainable. Whilst we remain open‑minded about specific mechanisms, we are clear on the principle: a universal public service requires a universal funding model.

We also believe the regulatory framework around us must evolve. The BBC needs proper checks and balances, but the new Charter must reflect global competition and rapid technological change with a lighter, more growth-focused framework.

This Charter Review is an urgent opportunity to secure a world-leading public service media organisation for the digital age. A Charter that simply maintains the status quo will not be enough to deliver any recognisable version of the BBC in the years ahead.

It would abandon the BBC to managed decline and deny UK audiences the benefits of public service media at scale.

Instead, we urge a forward-looking Charter that supports a universal, sustainable BBC – strengthening the UK’s democracy, creative economy, and society for generations to come. We look forward to working with the Government and others to achieve this shared ambition in the months ahead.