Lord Hall of Birkenhead, Director-General, BBC – further supplementary written evidence (PSB0066)

Thank you for your letter of 25 June. The Chairman and I greatly appreciated the opportunity to give evidence to the Committee’s inquiry.

I am grateful for the invitation to respond to the written evidence by the Campaign for Broadcasting Equality. Diversity is at the heart of the BBC’s creative success and we do not recognise the portrayal of the BBC as suggested in the Campaign for Broadcasting Equality’s written evidence.

The BBC is doing more than any other broadcaster on diversity and, on and off-screen, we are more diverse than ever. We have met or exceeded many of our 2020 workforce targets; we have diverse commissioners and leaders to ensure our on-air portrayal is fully representative; and we’re more transparent on diversity than any other broadcaster. Last year, I asked

Tim Davie to undertake a review on career progression and culture for BAME staff at the BBC. There was unprecedented engagement and we’re implementing the review’s recommendations in full.

Nevertheless, I take concerns raised by individual staff incredibly seriously. We have robust processes in place for staff to raise grievances, an in-house diversity team to take action on discrimination and a new whistleblowing campaign to ensure staff know they can raise concerns in a safe space. We are always willing to do more and I am delighted that one of the BBC’s Non-Executive Directors, Tom Ilube, has agreed to chair the refreshed BBC Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group, with BBC Non-Executive Director Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson as co-sponsor.

We have enclosed a detailed response to address all the points raised by the Campaign for Broadcasting Equality. I hope this reflects the BBC’s absolute commitment to diversity and the meaningful steps we are taking to deliver it.

Thank you once again for the opportunity to respond.

BBC response to the Campaign for Broadcasting Equality’s submission to the Lords Communications Committee

Culture and grievances

• The Campaign for Broadcasting Equality cites the view there is a “toxic environment” at the BBC, which has led some staff to leave “feeling used, abused, cheated and mistreated”.

• The BBC is more diverse than ever and is doing more on diversity than any other broadcaster, but there’s always more we can do and we take the concerns of individual members of staff incredibly seriously.

• We’re committed to ensuring staff can speak out and know that their concerns will be heard. In response to concerns expressed by BAME staff, the Director General asked Tim Davie, CEO of BBC Studios, to undertake a review of culture and career progression for BAME staff last year (Annex 1). There was unprecedented engagement in the review. The Executive Committee listened to the issues raised by BAME staff and are implementing the recommendations of the review in full.

• BBC has clear policies for any staff with concerns or grievances to raise issues in complete confidence, which are then investigated. We also have an in-house diversity team who can help ensure action is taken in any discrimination case that may be identified. 

• We are always willing to do more to ensure staff feel safe to speak out and their grievances are addressed. Embrace, a forum for BAME staff, is very active and has a direct route to senior management with responsibility for diversity and inclusion. We have re-launched our whistleblowing campaign, which enables individuals to raise issues in confidence and in a safe space, and BBC Non-Exec Director Tom Ilube, who is from a BAME background, is chairing the refreshed Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group with BBC Non-Executive Director Tanni Grey-Thompson as co-sponsor, to further advise the BBC on diversity.

• The proportion of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds is larger than ever. However, our data analysis indicates that we have a slight increase in the percentage of BAME staff leaving the organisation than other diverse groups. We are addressing this through the recommendations of our BAME career and progression workstream, which has resulted in increased BAME representation across all of our leadership programmes. We recognise we have further to go, and we believe our ambitious range of plans will continue to make a real difference.

(2) Publication of data

• The Campaign for Broadcasting Equality suggests the BBC “has failed to collect or publish adequate data on BAME employment”. This is incorrect. The BBC publishes more of its own, anonymised data than any other broadcaster, and more than we are required to.

• We publish detailed diversity data on our workforce every year – including socio-economic diversity – in our Equality Information Report (Annex 2) and, to be as transparent as possible, publish data on our gender pay gap alongside BAME pay. We also publish figures by division and ‘job family’ and separate the data for the Public Service arm from BBC Studios and the World Service Group. Nevertheless, we must observe important data protection requirements at a granular level.

• The Creative Diversity Network’s pan industry diversity monitoring system, Diamond, also enables the BBC and all of the major broadcasters to track and monitor programmes across onscreen and off-screen representation within our productions and across our content. 

• In contrast, the SVODs have no obligation to report on diversity and are not part of Project Diamond. We’d welcome greater transparency across the sector.

(2.3) BBC Board

• The BBC rejects the allegation that the BBC Board do not take responsibility for monitoring and measuring progress across all aspects of diversity. Diversity is reported on quarterly to the Board, where progress against Diversity and Inclusion targets is assessed and monitored alongside the implementation of the five career and progression workstream recommendations. 

• Earlier this year the Director General, Tony Hall, re-launched his Diversity and Inclusion Advisory group, which is chaired by Non-Exec Director Tom Ilube. The Advisory group advise and support the BBC’s key decision makers and senior leaders, to help drive progress, provide insights and ensure accountability around the agenda is positioned correctly across the organisation.

BBC workforce

• The Campaign for Broadcasting Equality claim “the BBC is falling short of most other broadcasters” on BAME employment, citing BAME employment figure of 13%. This is incorrect.
• BAME employment across the BBC’s workforce was 15.3% as of 31 March 2019, exceeding the BBC’s target of 15% BAME more than a year early. Workforce statistics for the BBC are:

All BBC staff and leadership: 31 March 2019

• We’re doing more than any other broadcaster to increase diversity among our workforce. 31% of people in our apprenticeship and new talent schemes are from a BAME backgrounds and we run mentoring and development schemes for underrepresented groups, such as the RISE programme for BAME staff.

• There’s also a raft of targeted initiatives to increase diversity across our output, including the Felix Dexter Bursary for BAME writers, a six-month traineeship for two high potential comedy writers from BAME backgrounds, to encourage new BAME talent in the comedy world.

(2.4) BBC BAME leadership

• The Campaign for Broadcasting Equality claim there was an “exodus of senior BAME staff in 2016”. BAME leadership has increased year-on-year from 2016 to 11.5% in March 2019.

• We know there’s more to do to meet our BAME leadership target of 15%. That’s why the CEO of BBC Studios, Tim Davie, led a review on the culture and career progression of staff from BAME backgrounds at the BBC last year. The BBC Executive Committee accepted all of the recommendations highlighted in the report, which are currently being implemented and include:

• Making sure our Executive Committee and all Divisional Senior Leadership teams have two BAME members by the end of 2020;

• All short lists for senior roles having at least one BAME candidate;

• Having at least 15% BAME representation on leadership courses.

• We’re beginning to see real change from these initiatives – 40% of our 200 Interview Champions, who ensure fair processes are promoted throughout interviews, are BAME.

(2.7) On-screen portrayal and commissioning

• The Campaign for Broadcasting Equality claim there is a “system failure” in regard to BAME on-air portrayal and that the SVODs provide additional opportunities for BAME programmes makers “that are not available via Public Service Broadcasters”. This is not a picture we recognise or one supported by the data.

• The BBC’s on-air portrayal is more diverse than ever. People from a BAME background now make up 20% of our on-air talent paid over £150,000 and we’re pleased that Ofcom found that audiences think the BBC’s better at representing a wider mix of people than it used to be.

• To deliver authentic on-air portrayal and give opportunities to programme makers from all backgrounds, we’re committed to ensuring that diversity runs through all our commissioning and decision-making processes. That includes:

• A Commissioning Code of Practice, which puts diversity at heart of the commissioning process, including with independent producers.

• Promoting diverse commissioners, including through the BBC’s Content Commissioner Development Scheme. The scheme has had huge success over the last four years and has been replicated by all major UK broadcasters. The programme provides BAME and disabled talent with the necessary skills, experience and tools required to advance their careers as commissioners. This initiative plays a critical role in ensuring that the commissioning talent pipeline, key influencers and decision makers from within the industry are diverse and reflective of our audiences. Since the launch of the programme, the BBC has retained over 80% of those trained.

• The £2.1m Diversity Creative Talent Fund to strengthen representation of BAME ideas and talent, in-house and from independent production companies.

• Our commitment to diverse commissioning and portrayal is reflected in the leading BAME talent across all our programmes including Stormzy in Noughts and Crosses, David Oyelowo in Les Miserables, Thandie Newton in Line of Duty, Anita Rani in Countryfile, David Olusoga in A House Through Time, Ade Adepitan in Africa with Ade Adepitan, Nadiya Hussain in Nadiya: Anxiety And Me, and ongoing portrayal programmes such as EastEnders and Holby City.

• Diamond enables the BBC and all major broadcasters to monitor progress in on-screen and off-screen representation within our productions and across our content. The system requires individuals to provide their diversity details for ‘Actual’ on-screen and off screen data.

• Using the latest Diamond data we are able to evidence our progress from those who have provided their data:

Actual on and off screen diversity: 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019

Data provided from contributions by individuals who have a role in eligible programmes.

• Diamond is an important tool in the conversation around diversity, as, for the first time, we have measurable statistics rather than anecdotal evidence. However, Diamond does not cover all programmes and is not mandatory to complete, and so represents a small size of our production population (of 44% contributors invited to report to Diamond Apr 18 - Mar 19, 29% responded).

• The BBC recognises the challenge that the lack of engagement with Diamond represents and we are working with the Creative Diversity Network and other broadcasters to increase engagement.

(2.8) Freelancers and independent producers

• The Campaign for Broadcasting Equality argues that BAME people should not “be underrepresented in the suppliers of content or services” to the BBC. We agree.

• All BBC Content suppliers must have a diversity and inclusion policy in place and we’re taking steps to increase transparency around freelancers by publishing the diversity of the freelancers we work with. The BBC is working with other broadcasters to help production companies find talented professionals from diverse backgrounds when they come to staff-up productions.

• Our £2.1m Diversity Creative Talent Fund also supports the development of ideas from BAME writers, talent and producers at independent production companies, as well as in-house.

BBC Studios

• The Campaign for Broadcasting Equality claim that it will take BBC Studios 40 years to achieve 14% BAME workforce, based on figures from the 2016/17 BBC Annual Report. This is incorrect. 14% of BBC Studios workforce is BAME (as of 31 March 2019) and, to be as transparent as possible, we separate BBC Studios workforce diversity data out from BBC Public Service data in in our annual Equality Information Report.

• BBC Studios are taking active steps to further increase BAME representation, particularly at leadership level. The BBC has mandated 3 forms of Diversity training for senior leaders and line managers which includes: Unconscious bias training, Inclusive Culture and disability awareness training. All shortlists for senior roles must include at least one BAME candidate and we are creating a diverse pipeline of future leaders through BAME participation in the Emerging Leaders Programme.

• These initiatives have already had an impact. 19% of all senior editorial appointments in BBC Studios Production have been from a BAME background in the last year and in the last 6 months, 2 BAME Executive Producers have been appointed to continuing drama series, including EastEnders. There’s also a high proportion of BAME in the BBC and Directors UK Continuing Drama Directors Training Scheme, with participants working on BBC Studios continuing drama series such as Doctors, EastEnders, River City, Holby City and Casualty.

• There’s also work to grow the proportion of new BAME talent, including the apprenticeship scheme, which targets underrepresented groups, and work with Creative Access to provide intensive training to young people from BAME backgrounds.

• BBC Studios has exceeded its other diversity targets, including women (62%, target 50%), disability (9.3%, target 8%) and LGBTQ+ (11.8%, target 8%).

Ring-fencing or contestable fund

• The Campaign for Broadcasting Equality has called for ring-fenced funding or a contestable fund to support BAME employment and programming.

• We do not believe this is the answer. We believe in embedding diversity in everything we do. Through our Commissioning Code of Practice, we ask indies to consider diversity at every stage of the commissioning and production process. It is based on ingraining diversity into everyday discussions from the start and agreeing the detail of what each production will do to increase diversity, on-air and off-air, before the commission is green lit.

• Furthermore, while we have programmes that meet specific needs for communities or groups, some of our most popular and diverse programmes, like EastEnders and Holby City, feature a diverse cast of characters where the diversity is incidental, reflecting society the way it is.

11 July 2019

Annex 1 – BBC BAME Career Progression and Culture Report

Executive Summary

This report focuses solely on the BAME career progression and culture project which launched in March 2018 by Tony Hall, Director General and was sponsored by Tim Davie, CEO BBC Studios. The aim of the project was to review career progression and culture as it relates to BAME employees at the BBC; identify gaps and best practice and make recommendations to the Executive Committee on how we can all fully support the BBC to achieve its goals in relation to reflecting the ethnic diversity of the UK in its workforce.

The term BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) has been used throughout this report to refer to individuals with evident heritage from African, Asian, Middle Eastern and South American regions, i.e. “non-white” but it is acknowledged that no noun/group of nouns would be perfectly suitable.

Main Recommendations

These recommendations are based on five areas: increase ethnic diversity of leadership teams; build a solid and sustainable BAME mid and senior leadership pipeline; enhance accountability and trust; develop a modern, agile and culturally intelligent workforce, and review areas with specific ethnic diversity issues.

1. By the end of 2020 the Executive Committee and Divisional Senior Leadership Teams to each have at least two BAME members.

2. Introduce a policy that ensures shortlists for all jobs at Band E and above include at least one BAME person.

3. Dramatically increase BAME representation across our interview panels backed by performance monitoring.

4. All development and leadership programmes to have significant BAME representation as part of its overall cohort. Inclusive leadership should be added to part of all leadership programmes.

5. Accountability for Diversity and Inclusion targets and BAME career progression should be incorporated into senior leadership team objectives and progression reviews. Progress should be outlined as part of future annual reports. Build a solid and sustainable BAME mid and senior leadership pipeline. As part of this, there should be development programmes for candidates, backed by robust succession planning across the BBC. This should be in place by the end of the financial year.

6. The Executive Committee should undertake a review of staff rotation to broaden the experience and knowledge base and explore what else can be done to make the BBC workforce more agile.

7. Develop specific action plans based on further analysis of divisions with less than 10% BAME representation or poor employee survey results to ensure issues are identified and action plans are put in place including, Radio, Newsrooms, Newsgathering, English Regions and the World Service.

8. Cultural awareness training should be compulsory for all team managers. This should be in addition to the current mandated Unconscious Bias training programme.

9. The BBC should introduce a “Statement of Intent” on Diversity and Inclusion. All staff would be required to abide by it. The statement should be published alongside the BBC’s Annual Report.

NB: The Executive Committee accepted the report’s recommendations in full and they are being implemented. As of July 2019, 40% of the BAME report’s recommendations have been implemented in full and 60% are in the process of being implemented. 

Key Highlights

The project successfully achieved it strategic goals, delivered within scope and on time.

• There was a strong level of engagement from hundreds of BBC colleagues from across the corporation with a high percentage of colleagues contributing from BAME backgrounds. It is clear that there is a desire for future change and a willingness to make that happen.

• Sound project planning backed by robust methodology helped to ensure the project was delivered on time with meaningful outcomes which are practical, clear, and will drive the change everyone wants to see.

Key Findings

The facts (quantitative data)

An analysis of the ethnic diversity of the BBC in its workforce and senior leadership shows that:

• In the lifetime of the current Diversity and Inclusion strategy the BAME workforce has increased from 13.1% in 2015 to 14.8% in 2018. This is the highest percentage of BAME employees at the BBC ever.

• The highest proportion of BAME employees are currently found in the Professional Service and World Service Group areas. Figures in the Nations and Regions are very low even though many BBC locations are in cities and towns with high BAME populations. Numbers of BAME employees in the creative areas are also low.

• Although BAME leadership figures are also at their highest percentages ever (10.4%), we are not close to the 2020 target of 15% and in certain areas BAME employees in leadership are below 4% (e.g. Marketing and Audiences).

• There are no BAME employees on the Executive Committee.

• Of the top 96 leaders at the BBC, six (6.3%) are non-white men, there are no non-white women and there are no black men or women.

• BAME employees reporting into the Executive Committee make up 7.5% of their combined direct reports. Over half of the Executive Committee members have no BAME direct reports.

• Diversity within diversity is an issue; only 43 of 307 Grade 10 and above BAME employees are black.

• Although recruitment rates for BAME recruits is high, so are attrition rates.

• The BBC is one of 66 employers and the only broadcaster and media organisation who made the 2017 Best Employers for Race listing.

Annex 2 – BBC annual Equality Information Report 2019

The following information is published by the BBC in the annual Equality Information Report, which is available publicly online in the BBC 2018/19 Annual Report (https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/reports/annualreport/2018-19.pdf).