MINUTES OF THE BBC TRUST MEETING. Held on Thursday 22 November at the BBC Trust offices, Great Portland Street, London

Transcription

1 MINUTES OF THE BBC TRUST MEETING Held on Thursday 22 November at the BBC Trust offices, Great Portland Street, London Present: Lord Patten Chairman Diane Coyle Vice Chairman Sonita Alleyne Trust member Richard Ayre Trust member Alison Hastings Trust member for England David Liddiment Trust member Bill Matthews Trust member for Scotland Aideen McGinley Trust member for Northern Ireland Elan Closs Stephens Trust member for Wales Suzanna Taverne Trust member Lord Williams Trust member Apologies: Anthony Fry Trust member In attendance from the Trust Unit: Nicholas Kroll Director, BBC Trust Phil Harrold Head of Governance Item 156 Peter De Val Head of Legal Items Fran O Brien Head of Editorial Standards Items Kate Atkins Senior Adviser, Governance Items Jon Cowdock Head of Business Strategy Items Alison Gold Head of Public Services Strategy Items Georgina Hodges Chief Research and Audiences Adviser Apologies: Alex Towers Deputy Director Mark Devane Head of Communications Gareth Tuck Chief Financial Adviser

2 From the Executive: Items Tim Davie Acting Director-General Items Marcus Agius Senior Independent Director Items Fiona Reynolds Senior Independent Director Designate Items Jessica Cecil Director-General s Chief of Staff Apologies: Zarin Patel Chief Financial Officer

3 AGENDA 154 New Trust members 155 Director-General appointment 156 Former Director-General 157 Minutes and matters arising 158 Committees and nations reports 159 Director s report 160 Pollard inquiry 161 Director-General s monthly report 162 Non-executive directors reappointments 163 Non-executive directors fees 164 Other matters 165 Items for noting 166 Business handling and communications

4 154 NEW TRUST MEMBERS The Chairman welcomed Sonita Alleyne, Trust member, and Aideen McGinley, Trust member for Northern Ireland, to their first monthly board meeting since taking up their appointments on 1 November. 155 DIRECTOR-GENERAL APPOINTMENT The Director, BBC Trust updated members on the recruitment of a new Director-General. Following his interview on 20 November, Tony Hall Lord Hall of Birkenhead had informed the Chairman that he was willing to take up the post of Director-General, should the Trust ask him to do so Members agreed unanimously that Tony Hall should be the next Director- General. The Director confirmed that member Anthony Fry who was not in attendance - supported this decision The Trust agreed to announce Tony Hall s appointment later that day. 156 FORMER DIRECTOR-GENERAL Trust members received a legally privileged report about developments relevant to the former Director-General s compromise agreement. These developments had been drawn to the Chairman s attention and he had given them due consideration in the light of privileged legal advice. Having discussed the report, members noted with approval the Chairman s conclusions. 157 MINUTES AND MATTERS ARISING The Trust approved the minutes of 10 meetings held between 12 October and 11 November 2012 as accurate records of proceedings. The Trust approved the publication of the minutes with no redactions The Trust noted the matters arising from previous meetings. 158 COMMITTEES AND NATIONS REPORTS The Chairman of the Audiences and Performance Committee said the Controller, BBC One and Controller, BBC Daytime had attended the last committee meeting to update members on their programming plans Finance Committee member Suzanna Taverne provided an update on the implementation of the BBC s Digital Media Initiative (DMI) in advance of the

5 Executive s revised business plan for the technology project The Trust members for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland provided an update on recent activity in their respective nations. 159 DIRECTOR S REPORT The Director, BBC Trust presented his report, which provided an overview of activity undertaken by the Trust and previewed the key issues to be considered by the Trust at the meeting It was noted that Trust member Anthony Fry was giving evidence that morning to the Public Accounts Committee. 160 POLLARD INQUIRY The Director, BBC Trust updated members on the Pollard inquiry into whether there were any failings in the management of the Newsnight investigation in late 2011 into the allegations concerning Jimmy Savile Members noted that publication of the report was now expected in mid- December. 161 DIRECTOR-GENERAL S MONTHLY REPORT The Chairman welcomed the Executive to the meeting and thanked Tim Davie for his work as Acting Director-General since taking up the role on 11 November. He thanked Marcus Agius, who was attending his last Trust meeting as Senior Independent Director, for his contribution to the BBC over the six years, and welcomed Fiona Reynolds as Senior Independent Director designate The Acting Director-General updated members on the action he had taken to restore trust and confidence in the BBC following recent events, including the allegations concerning Jimmy Savile, the Newsnight report of 2 November 2012 and the resignation of the Director-General. This included increasing support in the Director-General s office and re-establishing a single line of management to deal with all news output, Savile related or otherwise The Acting Director-General praised this year s Children in Need appeal which, by the end of the BBC One broadcast on 16 November, had raised more than 26 million. He noted a range of programmes marking the 90 th anniversary of BBC radio.

6 162 NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS REAPPOINTMENTS The Acting Director-General presented a proposal from the Executive s Nominations Committee to reappoint Simon Burke as a BBC non-executive director for a further three years. The Executive withdrew a proposal at this time to reappoint Mike Lynch as a BBC non-executive director for a further year The Trust approved the reappointment of Simon Burke for three years from 1 January NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS FEES The Trust s Head of Governance sought approval to rebase the fees payable to BBC non-executive directors. This followed a proposal from the Senior Independent Director on the BBC Executive Board to rebase the fees at the reduced level currently being taken by the non-executive directors, which is equivalent to one month s reduction per year. The new fees would be 42,000 for the Senior Independent Director and 32,700 for the non-executive directors. An additional 4,700 would be paid to those directors who chaired committees The Trust approved the new fees for BBC non-executive directors. 164 OTHER MATTERS HD Channel closure The Trust agreed to announce an intention to terminate the HD Channel service licence at the end of May It further agreed not to start a review of the HD Channel by the end of Governance of the BBC s international services The Trust approved new and updated documents relating to the governance of the BBC s international public services to Protocols The Trust approved amendments to its protocols on Trust oversight of the BBC, value for money investigations (protocol E1, part c) and on legal proceedings and signing authority (protocol E5). 165 ITEMS FOR NOTING (a) Minutes from committees and Audience Councils (b) Documents for sealing (c) Report of offline approvals

7 166 BUSINESS HANDLING AND COMMUNICATIONS The Trust discussed the handling and communication of items considered at the meeting.