The consultation has now closed
Thanks to all our members who came to our two town-hall style meetings recently and for sharing their views on BBC Charter renewal to help shape our response to the Government’s public consultation.
The current BBC Charter expires on 31 December 2027, with a new Charter expected to take effect on 1 January 2028.
The BBC is the single biggest investor in UK content and a key source of commissions, funding and training for members across many craft areas.
The Charter renewal process (which happens every 10 years) offers an important opportunity to inform Government about all we value about the BBC, as well as highlighting those areas where change would be beneficial.
That is why, as well as submitting a WGGB response, we are encouraging members to complete the consultation individually. The consultation takes the form of an online survey and the deadline for responses is 11.59pm, 10 March.
The questions in the consultation are often framed in a general way, but relate directly to proposals outlined in the Green Paper and should be considered in that context.
While we believe that there are some issues with the way in which the consultation survey has been constructed, we still think it is important for as many of our members as possible to take part.
You can take part in the consultation survey online or email your views to [email protected]
To help inform your response, read our summary of WGGB key messages. You may also find it useful to refer to the BEAU joint unions letter to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.
Once you have submitted a response, please drop a line to [email protected] to let us know that you have taken part.
WGGB in Parliament
WGGB has been continuing its lobbying work on the future of the BBC, and attended Parliament last week with the Broadcasting, Entertainment and Arts Unions All Party Parliamentary Group.
MPs and members of the House of Lords were keen to hear the perspectives of the combined unions on the Government’s current Green Paper on the BBC.
WGGB Deputy General Secretary Lesley Gannon (above left) spoke about topics including funding, protecting key genres of scripted content, national and regional quotas, editorial guidelines and the importance of freedom from political interference.
We will keep you updated about our campaigning and lobbying work. If you’d like to get involved, please drop a line to [email protected].
WGGB President Jack Thorne was featured in new a Broadcast series on the future of the BBC last week ‘I don’t work for the BBC but we live in a better world because of it’. You can read it here.