A NEW whistle-blower culture at the BBC is needed if the broadcaster is to avoid squandering licence fee payers’ money after it wasted £100 million on a disastrous digital project, MPs have warned.
The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) insisted the corporation must protect public funds by getting a better grip on the oversight of costly risk projects.
MPs said that while the BBC had learned lessons from the £98.4 million lost on the Digital Media Initiative project “there is still more to do”.
The PAC said it hoped the ramifications of the Jimmy Savile scandal would help encourage a new culture of “openness” at the BBC.
The report stated: “The BBC accepts that a lack of openness has in the past had a detrimental impact on reporting on project performance.
“In response to the report by Dame Janet Smith into the BBC’s culture and practices during the Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall years, the BBC is undertaking a wide-ranging review of its organisational culture and behaviours.
“The BBC expects to report the results of this review by September 2016, and that a major focus will be on the ability of its staff to ‘speak truth to power’, with behaviours expected from managers to support greater openness and honesty.”
The new BBC board must develop a “robust process” for deciding which projects get green-lighted, MPs said.
The report warned the broadcaster should “seek regular feedback from staff on the extent to which they feel able to raise concerns”.
PAC chairwoman Meg Hillier said: “The BBC’s Digital Media Initiative was a costly mistake that wasted nearly £100 million of licence fee payers’ money.
“In the wake of this failure it was vital the BBC rapidly improved its oversight of critical projects and as a committee we are encouraged by the progress it has made.
“However, there is no room for complacency if licence holders are to get full value for money.
“A lack of openness within the BBC has in the past negatively affected the way project performance is reported.
“If the BBC is to achieve its aim of a more open and honest workplace culture, management must listen to and act swiftly on concerns raised by staff.
“Clear lines of accountability, on all aspects of critical projects, are essential.
“Viewers and listeners paying for BBC services are entitled to know what improvements individual projects are expected to deliver and the Corporation must do more to explain these benefits promptly.
“The Government is planning to replace the BBC’s current governance arrangements with a single unitary board.
“This board will need to be equipped with the right mix of skills to tackle future challenges, including delivering value for money for licence fee payers.
“The BBC and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport must keep the interests of those licence fee payers front of mind as proposals move forward.”
READ MORE
BBC to close recipe archive as part of cuts to online services
BBC set to revisit classic sitcoms including Till Death Us Do Part, Steptoe and Son and Porridge
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe