Ready ?

It's a matter of weeks now before Ofcom takes over as the BBC regulator, and gaps in their new wall of bureaucracy are already appearing.

Ofcom's take on how it will set  'service licences' - which circumscribe the activities of all BBC networks and stations - hasn't even gone out to consultation yet, and won't be published until Autumn. So the BB has to make do with the old ones.

The BBC Trust had a staff count of 63 full-time posts (some of them filled by part-timers and job shares) Ofcom says it has currently recruited 30 additional staff and expects a total of 40 new members in post by April. "Preparations are ongoing and, once a firmer view of workload and resourcing has been established, this number could grow – on our current reckoning – by an extra 10 people or so." I make that 80.

The Trust ran its own operations on £7m last financial year, plus it had to pay fees to Ofcom of £2.8m. Ofcom requires up to £6.5m for this financial year (can it spend that much by April 3rd ?) plus £9m for 2017/18.