Britain moves to reshape the BBC

Britain's BBC will be forced to scrap a 77-year tradition of self-regulation under a new government proposal prompted by criticism of its journalism in the run-up to the Iraq war.

British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell yesterday issued the draft proposal to abolish the BBC board of governors and replace it with an independent trust that will oversee the world's biggest public broadcaster and a separate executive board focused on delivering BBC services.

The board was singled out for criticism in an official report delivered by British judge Lord Hutton which centred on one reporter's allegation that the government had "sexed up" evidence of Iraqi weapons programmes to justify its participation in the US-led invasion of Iraq.

The report's release prompted BBC director-general Greg Dyke and chairman Gavyn Davies to resign.

"The current model of governance is unsustainable... The BBC governors, with their dual role of managing the BBC, but also holding it to account, will be replaced by two bodies, each with a clearly defined role," Ms Jowell told Parliament.

An external BBC Trust, headed by current board of governors chairman Michael Grade, "will be the custodian of the BBC's purposes, the licence fee and the public interest," she said.

A separate executive board "will be accountable to the Trust for the delivery of the BBC's services".

Critics of the BBC, including the opposition Conservative Party, complained that the proposed changes were purely cosmetic and would do little to improve oversight.

"The government appears content merely to tinker at the edges of the existing structure while essentially allowing the BBC to continue for another 10 years with business as usual," a Conservative party spokesman said.

The proposals are part of the review of the BBC's renewable 10-year governing charter, which is set to expire at the end of next year.

Known globally for its radio and television broadcasts, the BBC will go on getting more than £2 billion a year from licence fees paid by all British households with a TV set under the draft proposal.

The BBC plays a dominant role in Britain's media sector, pulling in about half of the country's TV and radio audiences.

"The licence fee retains a high degree of public support. And although not perfect, we believe it remains the fairest way to fund the BBC," Ms Jowell told Parliament. Alternative funding methods such as subscription would be examined ahead of the next BBC charter renewal in 2016.

Mr Grade had initiated his own governance reforms at the BBC - many nearly identical to yesterday's proposal - since he became chairman of the BBC board of governors in the wake of the Hutton report. But he said he would accept the government's plan.

"It is regrettable that our own reforms have not had time to prove themselves," he said. "But it is important that the issue has now been settled."

Mr Grade said he would appoint director-general Mark Thompson to head an executive board once Parliament endorses the proposal sometime this year.

He insisted that the BBC's independence from government interference - the core issue at stake during the broadcaster's bitter dispute with government over the Iraq war - would not be compromised.