§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord McIntosh of Haringey):My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Tessa Jowell) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I have today placed the independent review of BBC Online by Philip Graf in the Libraries of both Houses, together with a copy of the letter I have written to the chairman of the governors. The report is also available electronically on the department's website www.culture.gov.uk.
In response to the review, I have asked the BBC to consider all of Philip Graf's recommendations, and to respond fully by the end of October 2004. I have asked that the governors' response include a redrafted version of BBC Online's remit and a statement of how the corporation intends to involve the independent sector along the lines set out by the report. I have not, at this stage, imposed any further conditions on BBC Online.