The BBC‘s £700M out-of-London masterplan has been criticized for having an “incomplete” evaluation process and lacking a “coherent approach.”The UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) issued its latest report this morning on the Across the UK masterplan and picked a number of holes, while delivering a wealth of recommendations. The BBC said it was “disappointed” by the NAO’s “commentary.”The plan was unveiled with fanfare by Director General Tim Davie three years ago and was one of his first big blueprints. It involves moving £700M more investment outside of London by March 2028, with shows, employees and hubs shifted beyond the capital in a bid to better represent and contribute towards the UK’s nations and regions.But, three years on, the NAO said it is “concerned the BBC was too confident of what it can deliver in the future.”“It has begun implementing its programme without a clear plan and could not readily explain the expected impact and benefits for licence fee payers,” added the report.There is “little evidence of a coherent approach to delivery, or of effective tracking and measurement,” the NAO added, while it said the BBC’s plans for evaluating the success of Across the UK are “incomplete.”“The BBC’s plans for Across the UK are overly focused on the actions it will take, rather than what impact it intends to achieve,” it went on to say. “The BBC considered moving £700 million of expenditure outside London to be a key measure of success of the programme, but the BBC did not give us a coherent explanation of the impact it expects to deliver for licence fee payers from this commitment.”The NAO, which regularly examines the BBC’s major plans, therefore said it is concerned the BBC’s confidence in Across the UK is “misplaced, given it is behind schedule in key areas,” flagging areas in which it is struggling such as spending 50% of its audio production budget outside London by March 2028. “In some key areas the BBC has made slow progress or missed its targets, and its explanations for how it would get back on track were not convincing,” said the NAO.The NAO acknowledged rapid progress in certain areas. The BBC had initially said it would commission 100 new and returning scripted shows outside of London by March 2028 and had hit 110 by March 2023, with the likes of Sherwood, Happy Valley and The Outlaws cited.The Audit Office delivered a wealth of recommendations to avoid a repeat in its next report, including that the BBC “refresh its plans” in response to the review and “set out its strategy for realising the benefits and what it will deliver during the remainder of the programme.”To improve transparency, it went on, the BBC should include a breakout Across the UK section in its upcoming annual report and accounts, which will be published over the summer.Responding, Thomas Wrathmell, the Director of Across the UK, said it is “disappointed by some of the commentary in the committee’s report and look forward to addressing the issues raised when we provide our written response.”“We have a very clear plan on how we will move investment, programming and decision-making across the UK to get closer to audiences, support the country’s diverse creative sectors, and develop and nurture new talent,” he added.“Our pioneering programme is deliberately ambitious and has been fully assessed. We are incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made so far and remain focused on achieving our targets to deliver cultural and economic benefits across the UK.”
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