Category: 91Èȱ¬
Date: 12.07.2005
Printable version
The 91Èȱ¬ Board of Governors has today laid before Parliament
four independent reports commissioned by the Audit Committee, undertaken
by a range of external agencies as part of its programme of value for
money reviews.
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The reports are:
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The 91Èȱ¬'s White City development: the second phase
of the building project
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Public Service Broadcasting: the 91Èȱ¬'s performance
measurement framework
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Credit Management Operations
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91Èȱ¬ Property: LST Partnership arrangements
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The reviews were conducted by the National Audit Office,
PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young.
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The reviews are published by the 91Èȱ¬ today and include
responses from 91Èȱ¬ management and 91Èȱ¬ Governors.
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Jeremy Peat, Chairman of the 91Èȱ¬'s Audit Committee,
said: "The Board of Governors is responsible for ensuring licence payers'
money is invested wisely. The value for money programme of work is providing
us with important independent views on whether the 91Èȱ¬ is achieving
best value for the public.
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"We are pleased the reviews published today conclude
that, on the whole, the 91Èȱ¬ is achieving value for money in these key
areas of activity."
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Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, said: "I welcome the
opportunity to contribute to the programme of value for money reviews
which has been commissioned by the 91Èȱ¬ Governors' Audit Committee.
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"These are providing Parliament with a fresh insight
into how the 91Èȱ¬ is spending public money and I look forward to continue
assisting the 91Èȱ¬."
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The 91Èȱ¬'s White City development: the second
phase of the building project (NAO)
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The review concluded that the new buildings at White
City were delivered on time and within budget, and achieved important
aspects of the 91Èȱ¬'s property strategy.
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It makes recommendations for future projects, and highlights
that the 91Èȱ¬ is not using White City's full potential. The 91Èȱ¬ has since
taken action to improve this.
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The Board of Governors supports the recommendations
and welcomes the NAO's acknowledgement of the positive outcomes achieved
by the development.
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Public Service Broadcasting: the 91Èȱ¬'s performance
measurement framework (NAO)
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The review praises the direction being taken by the
91Èȱ¬ in this area. The NAO reported that the 91Èȱ¬ has made good progress
in developing a performance measurement framework.
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Important building blocks are in place: the 91Èȱ¬ has
identified performance measures, data collection is underway and performance
is being reported to Senior Management and the Board of Governors. There
is evidence that the framework is beginning to influence thinking.
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The Governors welcome the review's confirmation of
the framework as a rigorous and appropriate method to assess the delivery
of public value. They recognise that there is further work to be done
and the framework is still evolving.
The report is informing work on the Public Value Test.
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Credit Management Operations (PwC)
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PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that current arrangements
are effective. The 91Èȱ¬ has demonstrated continuous improvement over
the past two years; however, there are further opportunities for the
91Èȱ¬ to enhance the value for money derived from its credit management
operations.
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The Board of Governors welcomes this conclusion and
recognises that further improvements can be made, particularly in the
area of consistency of standards.
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91Èȱ¬ Property: LST Partnership arrangements (Ernst
& Young)
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The review is written in two parts, with the second
part written after the 91Èȱ¬ renegotiated its partnership with LST.
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The initial report concluded that the partnership offered
the 91Èȱ¬ an innovative solution to realising its property vision and
delivered a number of major benefits.
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The report also noted that whilst reasonable value for
money was being achieved in core services, the partnership had not evolved
as expected and hence maximum value was not being achieved.
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In the second part of their review, Ernst & Young support
the 91Èȱ¬'s revised partnership arrangements with LST, which address issues
raised in their original report.
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The Board of Governors welcomes the conclusions of the
report and is pleased that the 91Èȱ¬ has negotiated a new deal with LST
with a positive outcome.
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Notes to Editors
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The four value for money reviews are available online
at bbcgovernors.co.uk
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In 2003, the 91Èȱ¬ and the Government agreed an evolution
in the Governors' oversight of value for money. As a result, the Governors'
Audit Committee, in dialogue with the Comptroller General and Auditor
General - the head of the National Audit Office (NAO) - has established
a programme of independent value for money reviews. The reviews are
undertaken by the NAO or other external agencies.
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This is enshrined in the 2003 amendment to the 91Èȱ¬'s
Agreement with the Secretary of State.
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All studies under this programme performed by external
agencies, including the NAO, are reported to the 91Èȱ¬ Governors and subsequently
laid before Parliament by the 91Èȱ¬ together with a 91Èȱ¬ response.
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The programme builds on the existing internal value
for money assessments performed by the 91Èȱ¬'s Internal Audit and divisional
management.
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The programme of reviews by the NAO until the end
of the current Charter in 2006, agreed by the 91Èȱ¬'s Audit Committee
and the NAO's Comptroller and Auditor General, is:
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- 91Èȱ¬'s investment in Freeview (published July 2004)
- Measures of public service broadcasting (published
July 2005)
- The 91Èȱ¬'s White City development: the second phase
of the building project. (published July 2005)
- Overhead definitions
- Outsourcing arrangements
- Risk management processes
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Two reviews by other agencies (PwC and Ernst & Young)
are published today. A further programme of reviews, to be conducted
by other agencies, has yet to be determined by the Audit Committee and
the NAO.
