BBC Director General to appear at PAC in World Service scrutiny session
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will hold a scrutiny session on the BBC World Service, taking evidence from senior BBC officials including outgoing BBC Director General Tim Davie CBE.
Meeting details
The World Service’s budget (£358m in 2025-26) has fallen by 21% in real terms since 2021-22. This has mainly taken place as part of the BBC’s management of an overall reduction in licence fee income, which funds the World Service in combination with government grant funding. Since 2022, savings of £48.6m have been made by the World Service against a target of £54.2m, primarily found through closures of TV and radio outputs.
The PAC’s session will be focused on the progress and impact of savings programmes within the Service. The National Audit Office found last year that the savings and closures made have contributed to a fall in audiences of 52m (14%) between ’21-’22 and ’24-’25. The World Service expected this would be mitigated by a corresponding rise in audiences on digital platforms, but digital audiences fell by 11% in the same period.
Witnesses’ views will likely be sought on the approach to these savings programmes and the impact on BBC audiences. Other likely topics include how public trust will be sustained in BBC World Service services.