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Alan Johnston

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trust received a report from the Deputy Director-General on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's continuing efforts to locate Alan Johnston and to secure his release. The Trustees expressed their concern for Alan and echoed the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's repeated requests to everyone with influence on the situation to intensify their efforts to ensure that Alan is quickly released.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.com

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ management provided an update on progress since February in respect of the Trust's requests for more information, in particular how advertising revenue from ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.com would be reinvested in ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Global News and the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's UK public services.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ management was not ready to seek the Trust's decision yesterday, but will do so later this spring. At that time the Trust must follow the requirements of the Royal Charter for considering commercial propositions, which means being satisfied it complies with each of the four commercial criteria set out in the Agreement.

The Trust agreed yesterday that it will publish information on how it has assessed the proposition against the four criteria once it arrives at its final decision.

Editorial standards

The Trust received an interim report from the Director-General about recent events associated with Saturday Kitchen and Blue Peter. The Trust noted ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ management's swift action once the mistakes had come to light and in particular the public apologies which were issued and the commitment to identify and address the errors which had led to the mistakes. The Trust noted that management had yet to complete its internal investigations and a further report would be provided on completion.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trust is responsible for the editorial standards of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ. Under the terms of the new Charter, the Trust requires the Executive Board to submit an editorial compliance report twice a year and the Trust's protocol on Editorial Standards sets out the minimum requirements. The Trust's first twice-yearly Editorial Compliance report is due in May. At its meeting yesterday the Trust requested that the report set out clearly the compliance procedures which management applies to different categories of programmes and provide assurance on how management ensures awareness amongst staff, particularly in non-News areas, of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's editorial guidelines.

The Trust also noted the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's full cooperation with the ICSTIS review about the use of premium rate phonelines by broadcasters. The Trust's Fair Trading Committee has requested a briefing from management on the different phone tariffs used by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ in its programmes, although the Trust is fully aware that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is distinct from other broadcasters in that it does not raise revenue from the use of phonelines.

Ends

Notes to Editors

1. ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trust Protocols

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trust's protocols, which set out how the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trust carries out its functions and how it relates to the Executive Board in a number of areas (including Editorial Standards and the Trust's governance controls of the Commercial Services) are available online at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/framework/protocols/index.html

2. Types of approval

The new Charter and Agreement sets out a range of approval processes designed to create a "tiered" approach to decisions.

The most demanding of these is the Public Value Test (PVT) reserved for the most important decisions about new or significantly changed public services. The PVT is a thorough evidence-based process including a Market Impact Assessment (MIA) by Ofcom. The Agreement envisages that PVTs will normally be completed within six months. It includes two periods of open consultation: after application by ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ management for a new service and prior to the MIA and PVA; and after publication by the Trust of its provisional decision.

Where the decision does not concern new or significantly changed public services, the Charter and Agreement provides a flexible framework in which the Trust can apply its judgement to other forms of approval taking into consideration its general duties and functions.

Where the publicly-funded ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is making a significant investment, but not in a new service that commissions its own content (³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One, Radio 3 etc), the new Agreement defines this as a non-service. When considering non-service applications from ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ management, it is for the Trust to decide how it will consider the public interest and market impact issues. The Trust may choose to consult publicly (for example as in the case of "Freesat" where the Trust is consulting on its provisional decision).

Where the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is engaged in commercial services, the Charter and Agreement sets out a different approval mechanism. This recognises that although the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's commercial services must "fit with the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Public Purpose Activities" they are not necessarily (but may be) delivering the public purposes and are not publicly funded. Commercial activities must meet the four criteria set out in the Agreement which are:

• They must fit with the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Public Purpose activities
• They must exhibit commercial efficiency
• They must not jeopardise the good reputation of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ or the value of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ brand
• They must comply with fair trading guidelines and in particular avoid distorting the market

In the case of commercial services, the Trust has no requirement to and does not expect to consult publicly. Publication of information about how the Trust has assessed a commercial proposition against the four criteria is not a Charter requirement and a decision about publication will be made by the Trust on a case-by-case basis dependent upon the risk to commercially sensitive information.

More broadly, for both public service and commercial decisions, the Charter sets out an expectation that the Trust will only deal with decisions where they "stand to have significant implications for the fulfilment of the purpose remits … or the financial position of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ" with the expectation that other decisions will be a matter for the Executive Board. The Trust has set out in more detail in its protocols how this divide will work. Broadly speaking only strategically significant decisions or those worth more than £50m will come to the Trust.