Speeches by Smith.

“We would like to explore the German model in a little more detail, if that is all right. Justin, can you explain how the household levy works in practice in Germany, including who is required to pay it, how it is collected and how it is distributed?”

“That is helpful. It sounds like it needs a fairly high degree of consensus from the 16 regional authorities. Can they block it?”

“In terms of how it is collected, what is the mechanism and, more importantly, what is the level of evasion? Has that changed since the system was introduced?”

“I also understand that the German system allows adverts on top of the levy. What is the rationale for that? Is it because adverts are needed to supplement the income?”

“What can we learn from the process that Germany used to transition from a licence fee to the household levy? We heard in the last panel that the process took 12 years. Presumably there was consensus across the political environment to do that. What can we learn from that? If the Government wanted to move at some point …”

“That takes us neatly on to Damian’s question.”

“That is really interesting. Am I not right in saying that one of the BBC’s public purposes has been to innovate? What is stopping the BBC doing a public service search engine or social media platform?”

“I think you have identified that the problem is probably funding. I would imagine that setting up something to rival a large search engine would cost billions, although I do not know.”

“Interesting. Is there anything else you think the BBC could be doing, on top of its current broadcasting activities, other than the two examples you have mentioned?”

“Do you think it was left out because the Government think it is politically difficult to introduce? I suppose it is not your—”

“Maybe we should be asking somebody else that question, in due course.”

“As you will have seen, the Government have ruled out a number of funding options in the Green Paper. We are still trying to tease out the pros and cons of them all. There are a couple of other options in respect of which you could help us to tease out the pros and cons. First, what are your views on the pros and cons o…”

“James, we tend to focus on news and current affairs when we talk about independence from political influence. In your life as a creative, have you ever felt any caution because of concerns about political influence, either in commissioning or your personal work?”

“Marina, you referred to the BBC questionnaire. There were nearly 900,000 responses, and some 90% said that independence is really important. You referred to the figures. How do you explain the 48% who believe that the BBC is independent of Government and the 38% who do not?”

“I am chair of the APPG for the BBC.”

“Marina, you referred to the BBC questionnaire. There were nearly 900,000 responses, and some 90% said that independence is really important. You referred to the figures. How do you explain the 48% who believe that the BBC is independent of Government and the 38% who do not?”

“Do you think the general public know about the Government appointments, or is it more about their political view when they start viewing the BBC?”

“James, we tend to focus on news and current affairs when we talk about independence from political influence. In your life as a creative, have you ever felt any caution because of concerns about political influence, either in commissioning or your personal work?”

“It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes), who made a characteristically interesting speech. I agree very much on the need to improve our investment in productivity and skills. I will start by making a very brief tribute to Suzannah Reeves, Joanna Midgley, John…”

“Do you think that is the case with your creative colleagues as well?”