After a prompt from 38 Degrees I sent an email requesting protection for the BBC prior to the cuts. Initially I got a standard out of office reply but this afternoon I received the following response:

"Dear Luke

Thank you for taking the time to contact me about the future of the BBC.

I am a strong believer in public service broadcasting and believe that the BBC is both a great national cultural asset and a great British cultural export.  The Government fully supports the BBC and wants it to remain the cornerstone of UK public service broadcasting. I know that my colleague Jeremy Hunt MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has described the BBC as a “huge national crown jewel” and is committed to sustaining the BBC’s position as the nation’s standard-setting public service broadcaster.  

However, I also strongly believe that the BBC can and should be doing more to ensure value for money for the taxpayer.  To this end, the BBC has agreed a number of measures with the Government that will ensure that it is playing its part, as a taxpayer funded institution during the financially difficult times, caused by the record budget deficit inherited from the previous Government.

In order to help licence fee payers up and down the country, the BBC has agreed to freeze the licence fee until 2016-17.    The BBC will take over the cost of the BBC World Service and BBC Monitor, as well as part of the cost of the Welsh language channel, S4C. These moves represent a real terms cut of 16 per cent, which is in line with similar cuts being faced by other cultural bodies also having to make savings to restore the UK’s financial credibility.

The lack of transparency surrounding pay for top executives and highly paid stars has also been addressed. The Government and the BBC have agreed that the Corporation will give the National Audit Office full access to the BBC’s accounts to ensure transparency.  I believe that this move will make the BBC work harder to achieve value for money.

I believe that the BBC’s governance structures need reforming. The Government is not convinced that, in the long-term, the current BBC Trust model represents the best way to deal with such cases. I believe that it would be better for there to be a genuinely independent regulator of the BBC that ensures licence fee payers’ interests are best heard.

Thank you once again for writing. I would like to reassure you that I believe strongly in public service broadcasting and I know that the Government will ensure that the BBC delivers value for money, as well as remaining the world’s pre-eminent public service broadcaster.

Kind regards"