BBC axes Budget Day party political broadcasts

Party political broadcasts around key events such as the Budget have been axed on the BBC in favour of a new system involving "seasonal" spots designed to increase flexibility.

Previously, political parties with enough seats and vote share in their relevant nation were offered party political broadcasts (PPBs) at key times of the year linked to political events such as the Queen's Speech.

Last December, the BBC Trust launched a public consultation into proposed new rules for PPBs. It received 17 responses, including submissions from Plaid Cymru, the Electoral Commission, the Democratic Unionist Party and the Voice of the Listener and Viewer.

Following the consultation, the Trust has today ruled that it is appropriate to implement the new system of "seasonal" political broadcasts.

It said that this would "give more flexibility to the political parties in the scheduling of PPBs" and would recognise the "realities of devolution", such as in Scotland, where the government has some control over fiscal policy.

The Trust said that PPBs are the chance for political parties to "speak, unmediated, to the public", but it also noted the importance of ensuring that the BBC's coverage of politically important events, such as the Budget, remains impartial.

Under the new rules, all relevant political parties in England, Scotland and Wales would receive three 'seasonal' PPBs in autumn, winter and spring.

This means that they could choose to run their PPBs on Budget Day, subject to scheduling and any pending elections, or run them at another time deemed important. PPBs are different to party election broadcasts, which are held during election times.

The Trust feels that the new system will bring "greater consistency and certainty", and ensure UK-wide parties can choose to tailor one of their broadcasts to a specific nation if they so choose.

It noted that extensive BBC coverage on Budget Day meant that viewers could "see and hear the Budget and the Budget debate from the House of Commons on various formats", which therefore gave the parties plentiful opportunities to "communicate their views".

"Now the audience has the opportunity to watch and listen to the chancellor live in the House of Commons, or to catch up on iPlayer, or to see and hear the key points across many different outlets," the Trust added.

However, a proposal to double the number of PPBs for parties in Northern Ireland, from one to two a year, was ditched due to concerns that some parties could be disadvantaged over the costs of producing them.

The BBC is also sticking by its policy for determining who should be awarded PPBs, despite some claims that it was set too high. The Trust said that stipulating only parties with at least one seat and "substantial" electoral support was a "proportionate criteria".

The Trust further noted concerns that viewers of the BBC HD channel could possibly miss out on PPBs as these channels do not have regional opt-outs and do not carry the broadcasts. It said that the BBC was exploring "the practicalities of redirecting viewers from HD channels to relevant services when PPBs are scheduled".

> BBC, Sky and ITN urge quick end to courtroom TV cameras ban