Media
A parliamentary committee has questioned the BBC's commitment to transparency and accused it of failing to provide full details on several issues.
The House of Commons culture, media and sport select committee yesterday published its formal response to the corporation's annual report for last year.
BBC executives, in a hearing with the committee after the annual report was published, refused to give details of how much money its top stars were paid. It cited reasons of commercial prejudice and data protection but did agree to publish the same information about regular staff.
In its response yesterday the committee said the reason for the distinction was "not immediately clear".
The committee, chaired by Tory MP John Whittingdale, continued to say the BBC should have revealed how much licence fee money was going to the Freesat service, which is in development in partnership with ITV.
It also criticised the corporation for providing BBC Three viewing figures at a three-minute reach, instead of the standard 15-minute, and for including BBC One repeats.
The committee's report said: "We hope that in future years the BBC will provide a more robust response which makes clear where accountability lies for particular issues, and that the BBC takes advantage of its new governance arrangements to take a more constructive approach to responding to parliamentary scrutiny."
A BBC Trust spokesman said: "In its first year the BBC Trust has implemented many changes to improve transparency and accountability at the BBC, including service licences, full explanations for decisions relating to new services and periods of public consultation.
"We note the committee's report about some specific issues and will consider its recommendations when preparing this year's annual report."
The House of Commons culture, media and sport select committee yesterday published its formal response to the corporation's annual report for last year.
BBC executives, in a hearing with the committee after the annual report was published, refused to give details of how much money its top stars were paid. It cited reasons of commercial prejudice and data protection but did agree to publish the same information about regular staff.
In its response yesterday the committee said the reason for the distinction was "not immediately clear".
The committee, chaired by Tory MP John Whittingdale, continued to say the BBC should have revealed how much licence fee money was going to the Freesat service, which is in development in partnership with ITV.
It also criticised the corporation for providing BBC Three viewing figures at a three-minute reach, instead of the standard 15-minute, and for including BBC One repeats.
The committee's report said: "We hope that in future years the BBC will provide a more robust response which makes clear where accountability lies for particular issues, and that the BBC takes advantage of its new governance arrangements to take a more constructive approach to responding to parliamentary scrutiny."
A BBC Trust spokesman said: "In its first year the BBC Trust has implemented many changes to improve transparency and accountability at the BBC, including service licences, full explanations for decisions relating to new services and periods of public consultation.
"We note the committee's report about some specific issues and will consider its recommendations when preparing this year's annual report."
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