BBC Trust

On 3 December 2014, the BBC Executive submitted its application for a package of proposals including the closure of BBC Three as a broadcast service and its reinvention as an online-only offer, the launch of BBC One +1, changes to BBC iPlayer and extended hours for CBBC.

The Trust decided that the proposals constituted a significant change to the UK public services and that it was therefore required to conduct a public value test (PVT). The PVT is a rigorous evidence-based process featuring two consultation periods. It is used to assess both the public value and the market impact of the proposed change and comprises: 

• a Public Value Assessment (PVA) which assesses the public value expected to be created by the offering and is undertaken by the Trust, and;         
• a Market Impact Assessment (MIA) which assesses the effect of the proposals on providers of alternative products and services and is undertaken by Ofcom.

The findings from the PVA and MIA inform the provisional conclusions.

The assessment commenced on 20 January 2015, with a four week public consultation on the package of proposals. 

On 30 June 2015, the BBC Trust published its provisional conclusions together with the following documents:   

• The Public Value Assessment (PVA), Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) and its associated research;       
• Ofcom’s Market Impact Assessment  and its associated research;      
• Individual submissions from industry and organisational stakeholders, and;       
• Representations from the BBC’s Audience Councils.

The full set of conclusions is published below.  A summary of the provisional conclusions is as follows:

• The Trust provisionally approves the proposal to move BBC Three online, however the Trust has sought a series of assurances from the BBC ahead of our final decision. Any approval would therefore be subject to certain conditions.
• The Trust believes that the potential benefits of the BBC One +1 service do not outweigh the likely market impact. The Trust has therefore provisionally rejected this proposal.
• The proposal for iPlayer to become more than a catch-up service, by hosting live content as well as carefully selected third-party content, is provisionally accepted.
• The Trust provisionally accepts the proposed extension of CBBC hours.

The Trust's Public Value Assessment (PVA) for the BBC television and online proposals can be found below, together with a UK-wide quantitative survey conducted by ICM and an Equality Impact Assessment for the project.

The link to Ofcom's Market Impact Assessment can be found below, together with qualitative research commissioned by Ofcom and conducted by Kantar.

Individual submissions to the consultation from industry and organisational stakeholders can be found below.

The BBC Audience Councils are advisory bodies of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the BBC. There are four Audience Councils – for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.