Our expectations
The Equality Act 2010 places a duty on productions to anticipate the likely needs of disabled workers and make reasonable adjustments. We therefore expect producers to anticipate that they will be working with on and off-screen disabled talent on their production and provide for reasonable access costs within their programme budgets. We take these costs into account when setting the level of licence fee for the programme.
As a general rule, the government Access to Work scheme should cover the cost of providing access and reasonable adjustments for disabled people in work including crew and cast members. More details about the Access to Work scheme are provided below.
We recognise that securing funding for access should not be a barrier for production companies working with deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent cast, crew and contributors, and are committed to supporting access costs that go over and above what's covered by the Access to Work scheme. The process for applying for additional BBC access funding is detailed below.
To grow our understanding of access barriers and how we as an industry can better anticipate them, we ask all our producers to detail their projected access requirements and costs in their programme budgets and in the Access Reporting Form at the point of commission. Producers must then report on the final costs incurred at the end of production. This information is critical for accurate access cost reporting and will help inform accessibility learning for the future. Find out more about this process and download the form below.
Reporting access funding on our productions
- By the point of commission the producer and the BBC will have engaged in a meaningful conversation on the expected access requirements for the production.
- Details of these anticipated costs are then included in the programme budget.
- Detail about the anticipated access costs are also documented in the access reporting form, along with the name of the individual/s from the production responsible for delivering the access plans. This should be completed and sent to the BBC business affairs contact at the same time as the production budget.
- This information will inform the budgeting of the programme and set the overall access funding required. The BBC will set its licence fee taking into account the cost of production including the agreed access costs set out in the access reporting form, third party funding etc.
- The access reporting form must be updated at the end of production to reflect the final costs incurred and resubmitted to the production business affairs contact within four weeks of final episode delivery.
If additional access costs are incurred after the programme commission and license fee has been set and the producer would like to discuss additional BBC access funding then the form must be updated and re-submitted to the business affairs contact for discussion. See below.
Download the access reporting form
The Government Access to Work scheme
The UK government Access to Work scheme should be used to cover the cost of providing access and adjustments for individual disabled workers, including production cast and crew.
Access to Work covers costs such as:
- Additional travel costs (ie paying for taxis when taking public transport isn’t accessible)
- Paying for support workers during working hours (for example, BSL interpreters)
- Personal assistants
- Equipment needed to make the workplace more accessible such as specialist chair in the office, Braille resources, etc
- Software such as screen reading software, dictation software, etc
- A contribution towards equipment needed during working hours, for example part funding the hire of a wheelchair
- Coaching support in work
Visit the UK Government’s Access to Work website for more information.
Applying for additional BBC access funding
We appreciate that unanticipated additional access costs may arise after a programme budget has been finalised that cannot be accommodated within the budget.
If additional unanticipated costs are incurred after the programme license fee has been set these should be discussed with the BBC commissioner and business affairs contact, who may agree to provide additional BBC access funding to meet the costs.
If additional access requirements emerge that require funding after the licence fee has been agreed, the BBC Access Funding Application Form should be completed and emailed to the BBC business affairs contact for discussion.
The BBC will review this and work with the production and the BBC Disability Lead with the aim of reaching a decision within ten business days.
There is no cap or time limit on submitting the form, in recognition that unexpected access costs can arise at any time on a production.
Download the BBC access funding application form
Access funding contacts
The BBC disability lead can advise producers on what the BBC considers to be reasonable access requirements and costs at any point in the process.
The BBC point of contact for productions regarding access costs.
- BBC disability lead
- The programme business affairs manager