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Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Radio & Music is committed to commissioning programming that represents all audiences across the UK.

We want Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Radio & Music to be the best organisation in the audio sector to work with and for - with an inclusive culture, diverse teams and representative programmes.

That’s why, across radio and television, we are prioritising at least £80m annually of our commissioning budget on commissions that meet our creative diversity criteria for . on and off-air representation.

This investment is not a separate fund. We have prioritised a portion of the budget to increase representation across our content and within the programme-making teams we work with, particularly in leadership roles off-air

Programmes must meet two of the three criteria to count towards the commitment:

• Diverse stories and portrayal on-air: Representing audiences around the UK across all protected characteristics and socio-economic diversity through landmark and incidental portrayal as well as on-air presenters, actors and contributors.
• Production Leadership: Influential roles  off-air involved in shaping and making programmes for the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú across three underrepresented groups: Black, Asian and minority ethnic, deaf, disabled and / or neurodivergent and working class.
• Company Leadership: Senior roles involved in shaping and leading production companies making programmes for the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú across three underrepresented groups: Black, Asian and minority ethnic, deaf, disabled and / or neurodivergent and working class.

There will be opportunities throughout the commissioning process to discuss how programme-makers and suppliers are meeting the criteria. This will not affect whether or not your commission is accepted, and our commissioning teams will be on hand if you need any further support or advice. It is important to note that this commitment is not a commissioning criteria, but rather a way for us to invest a proportion of our existing commissioning budget to increase representation both on and off air.

Here is more information about the qualifying criteria:

1) Diverse stories and portrayal on-air

Representing all audiences around the UK

Authentically portraying different identities and communities in a genuine, knowledgeable way enables our audience to truly connect with our content.

For these criteria we have included the full breadth of protected characteristics. These are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation. We have also included social class. Find out more about protected characteristics on the 

Within this criteria, a programme must comply with at least two of the following measures to be considered as qualifying:

• Landmark portrayal
• Incidental/integrated portrayal
• On-air presenters / actors / contributors

Landmark portrayal

This refers to explicit and major coverage of a story,  and/or topic(s) related specifically to one or more underrepresented group. They need to be front and centre of the core proposition and narrative.

Incidental/integrated portrayal

The programme should include representation of one or more underrepresented group – only where relevant to that particular story or character/ contributor.

On-air presenters / actors / contributors

The talent most regularly associated with a programme must be from one or more  underrepresented group. You will need to consider the proportion of lead on-air roles rather than the number.

For scripted content (e.g. drama), two or more of the main regular actors featured in and most associated with the programme are from one or more  under-represented group.

For unscripted (e.g. music sequences, factual series), one or more of the regular presenters featured in and most associated with the programme are from one or more under-represented group.

2) Production Team Leadership

Ensuring representation in  influential roles off-air, involved in shaping and making our programmes.

This approach seeks to drive greater inclusion throughout the creative decision-making process.

To qualify within these criteria, at least two of the most influential decision makers on a production team should be from one of these under-represented groups: Black, Asian or minority ethnic, deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent and working class.

In some cases, the commissioner may use their discretion to agree specific roles for the production to help drive greater inclusion.

The key roles we consider as leadership roles for Audio production are:

• Executive Editor or Editor
• Technical Producer
• Writer
• Producer
• Production Manager
• Production Co-Ordinator
• Sound Designer

This list isn’t exhaustive and we are aware there are other leadership roles that may not appear here. In those cases please indicate in your submission the additional roles that you are including. Additionally, for companies that may not have the specific roles listed, it is at the discretion of the commissioner and Creative Diversity team to agree corresponding roles that carry out a similar function. Please talk to the Commissioner if you feel this is relevant to your proposal.

3) Company Leadership

Ensuring representation  in senior roles in companies that makes programmes with us.

We are committed to ensuring our programmes reflect the diverse communities, stories and lived experiences of our audiences. By broadening the portfolio of programme-makers and suppliers that we work with, we can continue to achieve that goal.

This criteria includes those who have creative and strategic decision-making responsibilities within the organisation.

To qualify within this category, we ask that:

• At least two individuals in leadership roles in the company should be from one of three under-represented groups: Black, Asian or minority ethnic, deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent and / or working class.
• For smaller companies, with fewer than four of the following roles, 50% need to be from these groups.
• For companies with only one of the listed roles, a target of 100% will apply
• Individuals must have been in their role for a minimum of six months

We have identified the roles below:

• Co-founder
• CEO
• Chief Operating Officer
• Chief Strategy Officer
• Managing Director
• Creative Director
• Director of Production or Broadcast Operations
• Executive Producer
• Head of Development

To help establish if an Indie supplier meets this criteria, we ask them to complete a secure online Company Leadership Questionnaire via our Pitching and Commissioning System, PiCoS. For companies that may not have the specific roles listed, the commissioner may use their discretion to agree corresponding roles that carry out a similar function. For in-house commissions (i.e. from both Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Audio and Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Studios), we will derive data for ‘company’ leadership from Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú HR reports for equivalent leadership roles.

For co-production partnerships, the production company who owns the idea i.e. the intellectual property (IP), will need to be diverse-led.

If you are a sole trader or one-person Indie, not from one of the three under-represented groups, rest assured that this doesn’t mean your proposals will not be considered,they can still be commissioned outside of this funding initiative.

25% off-screen diversity commitment

Suppliers may be aware that in TV, the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú's financial commitment is also being backed up by a new 25% off-screen diversity requirement for productions and applies to all new network TV commissions from in-house and independent suppliers. In Audio, where production teams are typically much smaller and with less market movement, we have concluded that it is impractical to apply this target.

Supporting representation and accessibility

To bolster the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú’s creative diversity commitments in the audio sector, we are allocating funding for 2025/26 to support for individuals from underrepresented groups in mid to senior level roles, in addition to ‘BAU’ production roles. We will particularly welcome applications to support individuals from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, working class backgrounds as well as individuals who identify as deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent. 

 Also, in line with our commitment to accessibility and inclusion, we will support access costs that are over and above what's covered by the government Access to Work scheme, recognising that securing funding for access should not be a barrier for production companies working with deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent production staff and contributors. The funding will focus on unforeseen additional access costs that may arise after a programme budget has been finalised, and cannot be accommodated within the budget. 

Applications for funding be accepted via an online form and will be approved by a panel with representatives from Creative Diversity, Speech and Music commissioning and HR.

Producers considering an application should first inform their Commissioning Editor.

The Government Access to Work scheme

The UK government 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 for more information.

FAQs

• Radio Creative Commissioning FAQs
• Further information and resources can be found here