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Introduction
Our role
One of our key roles as BBC Trustees is setting standards for the BBC and ensuring that they are upheld. We ensure that BBC management has appropriate frameworks in place to deal properly with complaints from those who feel these standards have not been met. We also act as the final court of appeal if complainants are unhappy with the way their initial complaints have been dealt with by management.
Principles
One of our overriding principles is that the BBC Trust must act independently of the BBC management in dealing with complaints. Another is that the BBC system of dealing with complaints should put complainants on an equal footing with the BBC as far as is practicable.
The Trust considered setting and publishing a new complaints framework and procedures as one of its key tasks for the first year of its existence, and in 2007 it publicly consulted about the way the BBC should handle complaints.
The Trust published a new framework which came into operation on 1 August 2008. It applies to all complaints handling within the BBC and sets the principles to which complaints procedures and participants in those procedures must adhere. Further information about the public consultation, the research carried out by the Trust and the new framework and procedures is available on the Complaints Framework consultation page.
- Complaints framework, PDF (117KB)
- Complaints framework, text only (28KB)
How to complain
If you have a complaint against the BBC, your first recourse is always BBC management. Only when you have exhausted management's own processes for handling complaints can the BBC Trust get involved. The exception is if you want to make a complaint about the BBC Trust or Trust Unit, in which case you should complain directly to the Trust.
In general, there are six kinds of complaints about the BBC:
- Editorial – about the content of BBC output where a breach of the BBC editorial guidelines is alleged.
- General – about such things as production values, presentation, or scheduling.
- Fair trading – about the BBC's trading activity.
- TV Licensing – about the collection of the TV licence fee.
- Digital Switchover Help Scheme – about the administration of the Switchover Help Scheme.
- BBC Trust – about the BBC Trust or Trust Unit.
- How to make an editorial or general complaint
- How to make a fair trading complaint
- How to make a TV licensing complaint
- How to make a Digital Switchover Help Scheme complaint
- How to make a complaint about the Trust, PDF (58KB)
- How to make a complaint about the Trust, text only (7KB)
How to appeal
If you have exhausted BBC management's complaints processes and are unhappy with management's response to your complaint, you can appeal to the BBC Trust:
- How to appeal to the Trust over an editorial complaint
- How to appeal to the Trust over a fair trading complaint
- How to appeal to the Trust over a general complaint
- How to appeal to the Trust over a TV licensing complaint
- How to appeal to the Trust over a Digital Switchover Help Scheme complaint
Given the distinct roles and responsibilities of the Trust and the BBC Executive, the Trust does not normally consider appeals on day to day operational issues. Our role as BBC Trustees is to ensure that BBC management has in place an effective, fair and clear framework to respond to these kinds of complaints. The BBC Trust receives regular complaints' handling reports from BBC management and can review the way complaints have been handled.
Appeals heard by BBC Governors
The archive of complaints appeals heard by the Governors can be found on the BBC Governors' website.