BBC poised to open the books - again

THE BBC is about to launch an external 'value for money' review of its operations for the second time in less than a year. The move comes ahead of negotiations with the Government over the renewal of its charter.

Accountants will soon be chosen to examine how the BBC spends its money, even though chairman Michael Grade appointed accountancy firm Ernst & Young to look at the corporation's financial controls only last autumn.

Most of the BBC's income comes from the licence fee, which last year provided it with £2.8bn.

The Government is set to issue a Green Paper discussion document covering the future of the BBC and it is expected that it will recommend the licence fee be retained, at least for the term of the BBC's next charter, which comes up for renewal in 2006.

If this recommendation is accepted, the BBC will appoint the accountancy firm to look at all areas of operations to ensure spending is justified. The results will be used in negotiations with the Government over the future level of the licence fee.

The appointment of more accountants is likely to dismay staff at the Corporation, who have already been the subject of a major 'value for money' survey that reported at the end of last year.