17. In January 2007 the BBC Trust had replaced the Board of Governors as the body overseeing the BBC Executive. A year on, the Trust thought the new arrangements had given it a better feel of what its role and that of the Executive was, and that the Trust was now able to focus more on strategy, setting the overall direction of the BBC and looking at value for money issues.[19]

18. The Trust referred to two processes, Public Value Tests and Service Licence Reviews, that it used to support its oversight of the BBC. Based on the Public Value Test, the Trust had approved the Executive's proposals for the iPlayer, an online service that allowed people to access BBC television programmes from the last seven days. Approval had been on the condition that the iPlayer be made available to users across different computer platforms within a reasonable timeframe, and the BBC Executive was working to achieve this following the launch of the iPlayer in December 2007.[20]

19. Over the next three to four years the Trust was planning Service Licence Reviews for each of the BBC's 35 services. The plan was that these reviews would determine how well each service had performed against the terms of its service licence, using a performance measurement framework to assess its reach, quality, impact and value for money, including the cost per user hour.[21]

20. The Trust referred to the value for money reports prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General each year, arrangements for which were agreed between the BBC and the Government. The agreement provides for the involvement of the Comptroller and Auditor General in discussions about suitable topics, but the Trust retains the final say on what is and is not included in the programme of reviews.[22]

20   Qq 12, 22-24, 45-50, 139. Details of the BBC Trust's decision are available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/consult/closed_consultations/ondemand.html  Back

21   Qq 53-63, 69; Ev 17-18 Back

22   Qq 106-109, 123, 126 Back