New BBC boss Tim Davie to face MPs as he prepares to cut costs
The new BBC director-general is to face his first grilling in parliament as he looks to cut the corporation’s costs and take a hard line on impartiality.
Tim Davie will be questioned by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee on Tuesday at 10am alongside the BBC’s outgoing chairman, Sir David Clementi.
They are likely to be asked about issues such as cost-cutting at the UK’s national broadcaster, which has announced 900 job losses this year, and the likely impact of the proposed decriminalisation of the non-payment of the licence fee.
The new director-general has previously said the BBC has “spread [itself] too thinly” in a bid to compete with US giants and pushed for a dismantling of excessive bureaucracy.
The select committee is also expected to ask about salaries paid to high-profile employees and senior managers after they were made public earlier this month.
Other BBC senior figures including chief operating officer Glyn Isherwood and policy director Clare Sumner will also appear before the committee, chaired by Conservative MP Julian Knight.
Mr Davie succeeded Lord Tony Hall as director-general at the beginning of September. He has previously served as chief executive of BBC Studios, as well as in the role of acting director-general for four months following George Entwistle's resignation and prior to Lord Hall's appointment.
The new director-general has been vocal about what he perceives as issues with bias in the broadcaster, launched a crackdown on staff expressing opinions on social media, and warned that the BBC cannot be “complacent” about its future.
“Impartiality is our bedrock," the new man told BBC staff earlier this month. “If you are a journalist who isn’t interested in balance, if you can’t leave your politics at the newsroom door, you have no place here.”
Mr Davie also said the corporation had “no inalienable right to exist” and must ensure it was delivering value to “each member of the public” regardless of age, political views or geography.
The corporation has recently faced opposition by the government over a row over the the lyrics of songs performed during the Last Night Of The Proms, as well as license fee payment rules for over-75s.
Former Daily Mail editor, and fierce critic of the BBC, Paul Dacre is reportedly the prime minister’s favourite to become chairman of the broadcast regulator Ofcom, according toThe Sunday Times.
Boris Johnson is also said to have lined up arch BBC critic Charles Moore, a former editor of the Daily Telegraph, to succeed Sir David as BBC chair.
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