BBC boss Tim Davie says broadcaster must be ‘healthily paranoid’ about whether viewers see £159 TV licence fee as good value for money
- Tim Davie said there is ‘no doubt’ about skills shortage in the creative industries
- Director-general pointed to technical skills and production as example sectors
- Mr David said the BBC ‘obviously’ needs to have its own apprenticeship training programmes to ensure it has the workforce that can meet its production needs
- BBC previously said it will boost number of apprenticeships on offer each year
BBC’s Tim Davie said he would ‘like to do more’ in creating apprenticeship programmes to ensure people have the skills to work in the sector
The BBC’s director general has said the corporation needs to keep a ‘healthy paranoia’ over whether viewers see their TV licence as good value for money.
Speaking at the Creative Cities Convention, Tim Davie said the corporation was doing ‘pretty well’ at offering value for money but that it needed to be mindful about the value for money on offer.
The BBC boss said: ‘If most households don’t feel they’re getting £159 of value from the BBC then we’re in trouble.
‘And at the moment we’re doing pretty well.’
He described trying to change the culture at the BBC as ‘daunting’ and added: ‘But that’s what I’m here to do and I think there’s a real spirit in the BBC to say, look, the world has changed.
‘We need to get on with it and we need to be relevant to every household.
It came as he announced plans to create new apprenticeship programmes to tackle what he described as ‘profound skills shortages’ in the UK’s creative industries.
Mr Davie said he would ‘like to do more’ in creating apprenticeship programmes to ensure people have the skills to work in the sector.
He made the comments during an event with broadcaster Kirsty Wark where he discussed the BBC’s plans to shift some of its operations outside London.
Mr Davie said there is ‘absolutely no doubt we have profound skills shortages’ in the creative industries.
He added: ‘Only this morning, I’ve been talking to people about some of the skills shortages, technical skills, production, accounting, all the various things in my sector you need to get production under way.
‘There’s actually real skill shortages.’
He added the BBC ‘obviously’ needs to have its own apprenticeship training programmes to ensure it has a workforce that can meet its needs.
In its 2021-23 plan, the BBC previously said it will give a ‘significant boost’ to the number of apprenticeships offered each year.
Mr Davie said the BBC could become an ‘apprenticeship training agency’ that works with other organisations to help ensure there is an adequately skilled workforce.
‘I think big entities like the BBC can provide more infrastructure, more support, ensure that those apprenticeships can have the flexibility but the support from the bigger players,’ he said.
The BBC has said previously it will boost number of apprenticeships on offer each year
‘And that’s what we’re trying to do, get very granular about it.
‘I think there’s a lot of words spoken, but actually going to an area and saying we have vacancies for three hundred people in terms of production design, we think there’ll be 100 vacancies in terms of lighting engineers.
‘That’s what I want to get to in a really detailed plan.’
In March the BBC announced plans to ensure it better reflects all parts of the UK.
The broadcaster will shift away from London over the next six years in what it billed as its ‘biggest transformation in decades’.