The Governors consider that the policies contained in the BBC’s Fair Trading Commitment are consistent with the requirements of the Royal Charter and the accompanying Agreement. Through the Fair Trading Compliance Committee, they have gained reasonable assurance that the framework of controls and procedures designed to ensure that these policies are applied throughout the BBC has been operating effectively throughout the year.

The BBC has appointed external Fair Trading auditors, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, who have issued an opinion which concludes that the BBC has established and has applied systems, procedures and internal controls which provide reasonable assurance that it has complied with its Fair Trading Commitment for the year ended 31 March 2002.