Guidance

BBC Funding Model Review: Terms of Reference - Expert Panel

Updated 21 March 2024

1. Role and purpose

The purpose of the Expert Panel is to provide independent expertise and advice for HM Government’s review of future funding models for the BBC.

In particular, the Panel will advise the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on key issues relevant to future funding models for the BBC, as set out in the review’s Terms of Reference:

• The context of a rapidly-changing broadcasting and media market;
• The sustainability of the BBC’s current funding model;
• Whether the BBC should provide more services to audiences on a fully commercial basis, and what those services could be;
• The potential for the BBC to generate more commercial revenue; 
• The evidence around other funding models to support BBC services and output;
• How the BBC could transition to any new funding model.

When considering these topics, the review will also explore how they apply to the funding arrangements of the BBC World Service and Minority Language Broadcasting in the UK.

Responsibility for any decisions relating to the BBC’s funding model will remain with HM Government and will be made in accordance with the process for Charter Review in 2027, as set out in the current Royal Charter. 

2. Membership

Membership of the Expert Panel is voluntary and by invitation from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. It will be chaired by the Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries.

Members will possess a range of skills, experience and expertise that will enable them to contribute independently and in different ways to the government’s review of the BBC’s future funding mechanism. Members are appointed on the basis of their personal experience and not as representatives of their respective organisations/employers. Members will be required to cover their own expenses. 

3. Conflicts of interest

In advance of accepting a place on the Panel, all members will be asked to complete a conflict-of-interest declaration and to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement, given the commercially sensitive nature of discussions. All members must inform the DCMS Secretariat in advance of any new appointments that may be considered a potential conflict of interest.

Where there is a conflict of interest, members may be asked to recuse themselves from discussion.

All information on potential conflicts of interest will be held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and could be disclosed to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (2000).

4. Status

The Expert Panel has no legal status and is not set up under the Cabinet Office guidelines for public appointments. It will operate on a voluntary basis in line with its role and purpose set out in the terms of reference. 

Panel proceedings and discussions will remain confidential, unless or until otherwise instructed by the Chair. Any decision to make the Panel’s conclusions public will be for Ministers. 

5. Meeting format

Timings: The Expert Panel will meet at least 6 times over the course of 2024, at times agreed in advance by the Secretary of State’s or Minister of State’s office.  

Format: Meetings are expected to last up to two hours and will be in person, unless otherwise requested. 

Delegation: Given the personal basis on which members are appointed, if members are not able to attend a Panel, delegates will not be accepted.

Secretariat: The Panel will be supported by a Secretariat, consisting of officials from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.