Lords warn BBC duties need funding or trade-offs in 2028 Charter

Funding test for new duties

The committee said the BBC’s next settlement must be backed by a “bold, confident and unapologetic” approach to long-term financial sustainability, a phrase also used in the Lords’ public notice announcing the letter.¹ The warning is sharper than the rhetoric: peers are telling ministers that Charter reform cannot be separated from funding choices.

The letter does not endorse a specific funding model. Instead, it sets a condition for the White Paper: any expanded duties should be matched by resources, or by a transparent explanation of the trade-offs the BBC will need to make.⁴

That matters because the Government has been considering whether the BBC should take on stronger roles in areas such as regional economic development, media literacy, workforce skills and research and development. The committee said those ideas may have merit, but warned that unfunded obligations risk weakening the BBC’s core public service mission.⁴

Peers were particularly cautious about creating a broad new public purpose requiring the BBC to drive economic growth across the UK. The committee said the broadcaster already makes a major contribution to the creative economy, and that a standalone growth duty could distort commissioning priorities toward more commercial or exportable programming rather than distinct UK public service content.¹

Instead, the committee recommended retaining the spirit of the BBC’s current fourth public purpose — serving and representing the UK’s nations and regions while supporting the creative economy — while stating more clearly the BBC’s role in developing creative industries.⁴

Platform deals under scrutiny

The committee also put down a marker on the BBC’s relationship with global video-sharing platforms, including YouTube. Peers accepted that the BBC increasingly needs to distribute content through third-party platforms to maintain universality, particularly as younger audiences move away from broadcast television.⁴

But they warned that reach comes at the cost of control. Distribution through major platforms can leave public service media dependent on recommendation systems, presentation rules, data access and commercial terms set by international technology companies.⁴

The committee urged the Government to set clear minimum expectations for agreements between public service media providers and major video-sharing platforms. Those expectations should cover prominence, data access, accountability and fair value, and should be backed by legislation if voluntary arrangements do not produce adequate results.¹

That recommendation is likely to be among the most significant policy signals in the letter. It pushes DCMS beyond a BBC-only settlement and toward a wider platform-regulation question: whether Parliament should intervene if the BBC and other public service media providers cannot secure adequate visibility and commercial terms from global platforms.

The Lords’ intervention reflects a market shift documented in the letter. In 2015, broadcast television reached 92% of people in the UK each week. By 2025, weekly reach for live and recorded television had fallen to 54%. Over the same period, subscription video-on-demand and video-sharing platforms became mainstream parts of viewing habits, especially among younger audiences.⁴

Charter review becomes wider media policy test

The current BBC Royal Charter expires on 31 December 2027, and the next Charter is due to shape the broadcaster’s mission, governance, regulation and funding from 2028.⁴ The committee argued that this renewal cannot be designed in isolation from wider decisions on public service media prominence, distribution and platform regulation.⁴

Peers also linked the BBC Charter Review to the Government’s broader media policy work, including its “Watch this Space” agenda. The committee said the BBC remains a critical national and global institution, but one operating in a more platform-dominated market than when the current Charter was agreed in 2016.⁴

The letter also supports stronger collaboration across public service media, including partnerships on distribution, data, skills and artificial intelligence. It welcomed the BBC’s proposal to open iPlayer to trusted partners, potentially including Channel 4, while warning that collaboration should not undermine plurality, standards or competition.⁴

What DCMS must answer

For ministers, the immediate question is how much of the Lords’ agenda will appear in the White Paper. The committee is not merely defending the BBC’s current position; it is asking DCMS to make explicit choices between expanding the corporation’s remit, funding those ambitions and regulating the technology platforms that increasingly mediate access to audiences.

If the Government accepts the committee’s logic, the White Paper will need to address three linked issues: what the BBC is for in the next decade, how those duties will be paid for, and what statutory tools may be needed if global platforms do not offer public service media acceptable terms.

If ministers reject or sidestep those recommendations, the Charter process is likely to face further scrutiny in Parliament. The committee has already set its marker: the 2028 settlement should be judged not only by what it asks of the BBC, but by whether the Government provides the funding and regulatory framework to make those demands deliverable.