Pact calls on BBC to increase independent commissions

Pact has called on the BBC to reduce its in-house production quota in favour of a greater focus on the diversity which could be gained by making use of independent content.
Coming as part of Pact's submission to the BBC Charter Review, the statement outlines a reduction of in-house production from 70% to 50%, with emphasis on the concept of providing, rather than producing, the best possible range of content for the licence fee payer.
The submission also recommended the BBC should ensure the licence fee is used to encourage the growth of the independent sector across UK regions by commissioning more regional – and regionally-made – productions, to aid the development of creative clusters.
Pact claims that the contents of their submission echo many of the findings of the Ofcom review of public service television broadcasting - which advised that independents should be viewed as an important part of public service broadcasting. Pact's position was also recently defended by Lord Dubbs, who called for a doubling of the amount of BBC commissions given to independent producers, stating that the current figure - around 12% - was "rather low".
(CL)