Annwyl / Dear Member of the Senedd,

For your background, I wanted to flag that the BBC has today announced a strengthening of our approach to reflecting audiences and communities across UK following our latest wide-ranging thematic review.

The independent review, undertaken by former BAFTA Chair Anne Morrison and independent media consultant Chris Banatvala, assesses how accurately and authentically the BBC portrays and represents different groups and communities across the UK.

• The report finds that significant progress has been made in how the BBC represents all communities of the UK, including through increased regional investment, a broader and more representative range of voices on and off-air, and a strong focus on authentic portrayal in commissioning decisions.
• However, the report also identifies areas where the BBC can do more – such as further improving the way representation is measured in BBC output, including through geography and social class. There is also a recommendation to strengthen the BBC’s local decision-making across the UK to ensure it is happening closer to audiences, meaning production is “rooted in the location, made by people who understand it in depth.”
• The BBC has agreed a set of progressive actions in response to the review (detailed below).

The recommendations from the report build on recent BBC announcements to double spend on content in the nations by channelling more money from central budgets across the UK, and to accelerate the increase in commissioners and decisioning-making roles outside of London.

The full report can be accessed online here – please do let us know if you have any questions.

Best wishes,

Marged Elin Roberts

The BBC Executive has committed to the following actions:

• Strengthening how the BBC measures the ways in which different audiences are portrayed and represented in BBC output, reflecting a broader range of identity and experience that includes socio-economic background and geography. We will report on this new measurement framework from the next financial year.
• Doubling spend on high-impact contact in the nations, as well as accelerating plans to grow the number of commissioners and decision making out of London, as set out in December 2025.
• Systematically reviewing upcoming content plans to ensure underrepresented audience groups are reflected authentically.
• Using existing and new data to ensure social background, age and geographical representation also help inform how TV and Audio presenter roles are developed, including within improved presenter succession plans over the next year.
• Regularly distributing census information and other comprehensive data on the make-up of the regularly changing UK population, making sure this is understood by BBC staff and the independent producers and partner the Corporation works with.
• Supporting production and skills across the UK to drive authentic storytelling on air, building on previously announced measures to strengthen local spend in BBC commissions.
• Sharing the thematic review across the BBC, reporting progress on the actions regularly to the Executive Committee.

Marged Elin Roberts

Ymgynghorydd Cyfathrebu  | Communications Advisor