The Victoria Derbyshire show has backed the National Leasehold Campaign since we launched in 2017. The BBC have announced the show is to be axed. NLC’s founder Katie Kendrick has launched the petition to stop this which has already reached 32,000 signatures.
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION
Other NLC coverage on the Victoria Derbyshire include:
- July 2019 – Human Impact of the Leasehold Scandal on peoples mental health – Victoria Derbyshire exclusive 2019
- April 2017 – Joanne Darbyshire, Sebastian O’Kelly trustee of the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and Sir Peter Bottomley MP about the Leasehold Scandal.
- September 2018 – Talks to Louie Burns, Managing Director of Leasehold Solutions, about a new report from the National Association of Estate Agents which claims the vast majority of home owners who bought a leasehold house now regret it.
- July 2017 – The Government is consulting on banning the sale of new leasehold homes, unfair charges and dramatically reducing ground rents.
Katie Kendrick has written to the head of the BBC:
Re: Stop the Victoria Derbyshire Show being axed
FOR PUBLICATION.
Dear Lord Hall
My name is Katie Kendrick I am the founder of the National Leasehold Campaign (NLC) and the person who launched the online petition to save the show which now has over 31,000 signatures.
My first reaction when I heard the news about this decision was of disbelief. I felt deeply disappointed that the BBC, a publically funded organisation, could even consider removing a show that provides such an invaluable public service to millions. This show is pivotal to our society, it reaches the most vulnerable, thus enabling & empowering people to have a voice. I don’t think you should underestimate how much this show provides a voice to many marginalised sectors of society and how imperative it is these voices are heard.
I have read the BBC’s Charter and struggle to understand how this decision can be justified.
“The BBC’s Mission is to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain.
The BBC’s Charter and Agreement sets out what the BBC is for. It has an intrinsic purpose: to provide programmes that inform, educate and entertain people as individuals. And it has an instrumental purpose: to deliver external benefits to society through, for example, creating a richer culture, promoting democratic debate and building a stronger sense of community through shared experiences”
Point 9 of your Charter ‘Acting in the public interest’ states the “BBC MUST act in the public interest”
“In complying with this article, the BBC must a) ensure that the benefits (whether direct or indirect) of decision relating to the fulfilment of its mission and the promotion of the public purposes outweigh the costs (whether direct or indirect) and b) in doing so, have regard to economic, social & cultural benefits and costs.
Point 10 of your Charter focuses on ‘Engaging with the public’,
“The BBC must carefully and appropriately assess the views and interests of the public and audiences, including licence fee payers, across the whole of the United Kingdom. The BBC must make arrangements to ensure that the diverse perspectives and interests of the public and audiences, including licence fee payers, across the whole of the United Kingdom are taken into account in its decision-making”
You have a responsibility to uphold the Royal Charter for the British Broadcasting Corporation
For me personally the Victoria Derbyshire show has provided a platform for leaseholders trapped in the Leasehold Scandal to have a voice. We are at a crucial time in our campaign where government are in the process of drafting legislation to help end the abuses of Leasehold. I firmly believe the support and exposure of our plight by the Victoria Derbyshire show has been instrumental in getting government to sit up, listen and take action. The Victoria Show promptly engaged with Leaseholders and exposed the Leasehold Scandal in February 2017; undertaking an exclusive investigation ‘The new property trap affecting thousands’ and further exclusive report in 2019 exposing the ‘Human impact of the Leasehold Scandal on peoples mental health’ I can not thank the show enough for helping us get this far.
My campaign is just one of thousands this show has given a voice to. We need more not less of this kind of journalism. It would be a travesty to loose such an excellent show.
How does the BBC intend to continue to represent the interests of the public if you axe this show? The BBC should be investing in more programmes that engage the public voice, not eradicating it.
It’s clear you have a choice of ‘being part of the problem or part of the solution’. I urge you to reconsider.
Regards
Katie Kendrick
(Founder of NLC)
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