Under Section 27 of the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom is required to promote training and development across the broadcasting industry.

The BTSR (Broadcasting Training and Skills Regulator) is a new body which is being established in a joint initiative between Ofcom, UK television and radio broadcasters, and Skillset (the Sector Skills Council for the Audio Visual Industries) to create a co-regulatory system for training and development.

It will have a key role to play in ensuring that cost-effective methods exist for planning, organising, facilitating and measuring the delivery of training in television and radio, working closely with broadcasters and Skillset. The BTSR will be responsible for assessing whether the arrangements made by broadcasters for training and skills development are adequate and, if not, what remedies need to be put in place.

Ofcom consulted last autumn on the proposals for co-regulation and announced in February this year that it intended to move ahead with their implementation. A memorandum of understanding setting out the principles which underpin the new system and the responsibilities of the different parties has now been agreed.

The proposals provide for the BTSR to consist of seven members, three from the broadcast industry representing the different sectors (terrestrial television, cable/satellite and radio) and four including the chairman who are independent of the industry and Skillset. The other members of the board have yet to be appointed.

Tim Suter, Ofcom’s Partner for Content and Standards, said: “Ralph Tabberer’s senior management experience allied to his regulatory knowledge and his track record in the delivery of large-scale training strategies makes him ideally qualified for this important new role.

He added: “The new system of co-regulation represents a significant step forward in extending and strengthening collaboration on training across the broadcast industry.”

Notes for editors and cses

1. Ralph Tabberer has been Chief Executive of the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) since February 2000. During this period the Agency is credited with having achieved record recruitment results and improved training quality year on year, and has been recognised by the National Audit Office as a best practice exemplar in public service delivery. Mr Tabberer qualified as a teacher in 1977 after completing an MA in Economics, Social and Political Science at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge. Before joining the TTA he held various senior management positions in education, most recently at the Department for Education and Employment and the National Foundation for Educational Research. He has also served on various bodies including the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit, the Arts Council’s Education Advisory Group and the Children’s Workforce Development Council. Mr Tabberer’s personal interests and expertise are in public sector leadership, cultural change, training and development, research and analysis, and the new technologies in broadcasting and elsewhere. He is married with children.

2. Section 337 of the Communications Act 2003 requires licensed broadcasters to make arrangements for training. Equivalent requirements are placed on the BBC under its Agreement with the Secretary of State and on S4C under Schedule 12 of the Act. Only broadcasters which employ (individually or as a group) 20 people or less, or provide a service which broadcasts for 31 days a year or less, are exempt. Ofcom also has a general duty to promote training under section 27 of the Act.

3. Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.

For further details please visit www.ofcom.org.uk/.

Contact

Ofcom Media Office
mediaoffice@ofcom.org.uk
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