Handover

Transition is never cheap in finely-honed bureaucracies. The latest BBC Trust minutes hint at the issue as the Trust disappears at the start of April, with responsibilities split between the new (unitary) Board, and Ofcom.

The Trust noted that Ofcom had submitted an estimate of the charges it would apply to the BBC for regulation from April 2017, and for transitional work done during the current financial year. [redacted] Members agreed to discuss the charges further with Ofcom and DCMS.

Last year, the Trust handed over (from the licence fee) £2.425m to Ofcom in regulatory fees, and a further £445k for market impact assessments. BBC Trust staff produced a salary bill of £4.2m, with fees to twelve Trustees adding up to £588k.  (That compares with £208k spent on 5 non-executive directors on Lord Hall's main board.)

Will it cost more than 2015/6's £10.2m to regulate the BBC in the next financial year ?