Committee publication · Correspondence · 3 June 2026
Letter from Alex Rawle, Head of UK Public Policy, YouTube, regarding Children’s tv further information, 15 May 2026
From: Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Inquiry: Children's tv and video content
Summary
YouTube's Head of UK Public Policy responds to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee's follow-up queries on children's content. The letter clarifies YouTube's position on research confidentiality, describes the Player for Education tool and legacy children's content fund, details recent UK creator support initiatives (Made For Kids Launchpad and Create x Connect BBC partnership), and provides viewing data for PSB and commercial children's channels on the platform.
Key findings
- YouTube cites contractual confidentiality obligations with Oxford Economics to withhold full survey methodology, questions, and raw data from the Committee's request
- Player for Education, launched 2022, provides distraction-free viewing with parental/educator controls and prevents student off-topic searching in educational settings
- Legacy children's content fund (2021–2024) supported diverse age groups and developmental pillars but YouTube shifted strategy to support independent creators rather than produce content in-house
- Made For Kids Launchpad trained 140+ UK creators in digital-first production; Create x Connect partnership with BBC and NFTS invests in upskilling 150 media professionals across six regional hubs
- PSB-directly-operated channels (CBeebies 3.79M subscribers, CBBC 872K) are substantially outperformed by BBC Studios commercial channels (Bluey 13.6M, Hey Duggee 2.68M, Numberblocks 14.4M)
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Alex Rawle, YouTube, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Dame Caroline Dinenage, Oxford Economics, BBC, Channel 5, Pedro Pina
Notable line
“… we're not interested in producing content. Therefore, for us to be successful we need other people to put the content in.”
Key Quotes
“… this information is subject to confidentiality obligations under contractual agreement with Oxford Economics, a standard approach when drawing on research approaches developed and owned by third parties”
“We provide platforms and others get on board. So, we're not interested in producing content. Therefore, for us to be successful we need other people to put the content in.”
“Player for Education is a distraction-free, privacy-preserving YouTube embedded player designed for learners that YouTube 6 Pancras Square London N1C 4AG improves the way YouTube shows videos inside …”
“… we have developed high and low-quality principles for kids and teen content, we do not track content in the categorical proportions the Committee asked about”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗