§ 28. Mr. Clifton-BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on the outcome of the recent review of monitoring of the BBC World Service. [30922]
§ Mr. BaldryA review of BBC monitoring, the first in recent years, was carried out in 1994 by a joint team from the BBC, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence. The review concluded that BBC monitoring continues to play a valuable role and should be retained, but recommended improvements to the marketing and distribution of its products. From 1997, BBC monitoring will no longer be funded from the grant in aid to the BBC World Service. Instead, official users will pay a subscription, based on their individual requirements. Monitoring will remain part of the BBC, as a fully trading business unit. The FCO will remain the sponsoring Government Department.
These decisions have been agreed with the BBC.