§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to extend National Audit Office scrutiny to the BBC.[101212]
§ Dr. HowellsThe National Audit Office (NAO) already has access to the BBC to examine the value for money of the administration of the television licensing system and the BBC World Service. As indicated in the Government's response of 6 March 2003 to the Public Accounts Committee report "Collecting the Television Licence Fee", the coming review of the BBC's Charter provides the context in which to consider the case for extending NAO access to the BBC. As part of that review the Government will decide what should be the future role of the C&AG in relation to the Corporation.