Show your workings

The agreement that the National Audit Office (prodded by the Public Accounts Committee) can choose what it "studies" at the BBC is not quite the new threat to the Corporation's independence it might seem. 

The Trust under Sir Michael Lyons, let the door open to the NAO some time ago, and it was only going to go one way.  Up til now, the BBC Trust and the NAO have "agreed" topics suitable for investigation, but there's no evidence that they've ever been turned down, other than on a public probe of talent salaries. 

The clutch of reports so far have found nothing terribly surprising.  "The BBC's preparedness for Digital Switchover" - not bad.  "The efficiency of radio production at the BBC" - not as efficient as the commercial sector.  "The BBC's management of strategic contracts with the private sector" - the deal with Siemens seems to save money on the balance sheet, but it's really not working for production teams.  "The BBC's management of its coverage of major sporting events and music events" - no proper bottom-up creation of budget forecasts - and is the famous glass box for presenters really value for money ? "The BBC's management of three major estate projects" - Broadcasting House got delayed in Phase 1, but the NAO and BBC can't agree on the financial consequences.   I believe there's another study pending, on value for money of soaps (drama, not detergent supplies). 

These studies took roughly two years. So, say, the NAO comes looking three times a year, the problem is now that it becomes a regular pain.  The NAO staff take time to get their groundings on each topic, and whatever the purity of their ambition, they pick some topics based on political/newspaper agendas. During their time on site, they have to be man-marked by a BBC team.  And if they turn to outside consultants for a view, the BBC usually commissions Ernst & Young, KPMG etc for its own take.   Then round report publication time, both sides spin furiously, the BBC often saying, ok it might have been a problem but we're on top of it now.  Any fresh insight usually gets lost in the noise.