The BBC Trust has today announced that it has not upheld a joint appeal from the Scottish National Party (SNP) and Plaid Cymru on the BBC’s Prime Ministerial debate scheduled to be broadcast on 29 April.
An ad hoc committee of five Trustees, including the Trustees for Scotland and Wales, met yesterday (Wednesday 21 April) to consider the appeal.
The SNP and Plaid Cymru jointly submitted an appeal, by letters of 5 and 12 April, against the Director-General’s decision to reject their complaint concerning the exclusion of the SNP and Plaid Cymru from the BBC’s Prime Ministerial debate. The grounds of the appeal can be summarised as follows:
A. The Executive is in breach of the BBC’s obligation of impartiality by excluding the SNP and Plaid Cymru from the debate
B. The Executive has unfairly excluded the SNP and Plaid Cymru from negotiations surrounding the debate
C. The Executive has abdicated its editorial independence in allowing the three main political parties to dictate the terms of the format agreement for the debate
D. The Executive is providing inadequate compensatory coverage for the SNP and Plaid Cymru
E. The exclusion of the SNP and Plaid Cymru from the debate risks misleading audiences in Scotland and Wales.
The Committee agreed that grounds A, B and D above were admissible as they clearly raised matters of substance. The Committee also considered whether an oral hearing should take place as requested by the SNP and Plaid Cymru, and concluded that procedural fairness did not require an oral hearing in these circumstances. There were no material disputes of fact between the parties and the Committee had sufficient material before it to decide the issues on the papers.
The Committee’s decision:
- It concluded that the Director-General had not erred in his approach as to which parties to include in the BBC’s Prime Ministerial debate. Noting the level of past electoral support and the number of candidates standing for the SNP and Plaid Cymru, the Committee concluded that the Director-General’s approach to achieving impartiality was appropriate. That is that SNP and Plaid Cymru
- It considered that, on the basis that it was within the Director-General’s discretion not to include the SNP and Plaid Cymru in the Prime Ministerial debate, it would not have been appropriate to involve the SNP and Plaid Cymru in negotiations surrounding that debate or the agreement of the format. The Committee considered that it was appropriate for the Executive to form the view that it was not in a position to engage with the SNP and Plaid Cymru on their coverage until the detail of the debate itself had been finalised.
- It concluded that the Director-General had not erred in his approval of the Executive’s approach to coverage of the SNP and Plaid Cymru surrounding the debate, that the Committee was satisfied with the process adopted and that the approach to coverage of the SNP and Plaid Cymru was reasonable and adequate to maximise the achievement of due impartiality, and within the discretion afforded to the DG to approve as editor-in-chief of the BBC.
have not been included in the Prime Ministerial debate programme but in associated and clearly signposted coverage previously agreed by the BBC.
Sir Michael Lyons, BBC Trust Chairman, said:
“The Trust is fully aware that this is an important matter for licence fee payers in Scotland and Wales and the political parties of those nations. We are also fully aware that the BBC has a duty to ensure impartiality in covering the General Election. In reaching our conclusions, we have considered the appeal very carefully against the BBC Editorial and Election Guidelines and in line with our responsibilities set out in the Charter.”
Richard Tait, BBC Trustee and chairman of the committee, said:
“Devolution has led to changes in the issues faced by voters in the different parts of the UK. The BBC’s obligations to impartiality are a central part of the Trust’s responsibilities and we are satisfied that the arrangements for the debate on 29 April are consistent with the BBC Editorial and Election Guidelines.
“However, we will be writing to the Director-General to emphasise the BBC’s responsibilities during this election period with respect to the expectations of licence fee payers in the nations.”
The Ad Hoc Committee members were Richard Tait (chairman); Jeremy Peat (Trustee for Scotland); Janet Lewis-Jones (Trustee for Wales); Alison Hastings (Trustee for England); and David Liddiment.
