BBC Trust


The BBC Trust logo

The BBC Trust is the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation. It is operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and aims to act in the best interests of licence fee payers.

The Trust was established by the Royal Charter for the BBC which came into effect on 1 January 2007. The Trust, and a formalised Executive Board, replaced the former Board of Governors.

In summary, the main roles of the Trust are in setting the overall strategic direction of the BBC, including its priorities, and in exercising a general oversight of the work of the Executive Board. The Trust will perform these roles in the public interest, particularly the interest of licence fee payers. — BBC Royal Charter (2006)[1]

Contents

Trustees

The Royal Charter established that the Trust should have twelve trustees, including a Chair, a Vice-Chair and a member for each of the nations of the United Kingdom.[1] The Trust currently comprises:

The original trustees, three former Governors and eight new members, were announced by Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in October 2006.[2] At the time of the announcement Michael Grade, then Chairman of the Governors, was to become Chairman of the Trust. After his move to become Executive Chairman of ITV in November 2006, Chitra Bharucha, then Vice-Chair, became the Acting Chair,[3] with Michael Lyons taking up the position from 1 May 2007.[4]

Trustees serve for a four year term, after which they may be appointed to a further term.

Remuneration of Trustees

The table below states the remuneration for trustees of the BBC Trust as released in the Annual Report and Accounts 2007/2008.[5]

Name Position Total 2007/08 (£)
Sir Michael Lyons Chairman 163,000
Dr Chitra Bharucha Vice-Chair 103,000
Alison Hastings Trustee (England) 42,000
Rotha Johnston CBE Trustee (Northern Ireland) 40,000
Janet Lewis-Jones Trustee (Wales) 41,000
Jeremy Peat Trustee (Scotland) 41,000
Dr Diane Coyle Trustee 36,000
Dermot Gleeson Trustee 36,000
Dame Patricia Hodgson DBE Trustee 35,000
David Liddiment Trustee 35,000
Mehmuda Mian Pritchard Trustee 35,000
Richard Tait CBE Trustee 35,000

The Trust's work

In October 2007, the Trust approved the BBC's strategic direction for the next six years, demanding a high quality and more distinctive BBC.

The Trust has approved several new services, including the iPlayer, HDTV and the Gaelic Digital Service, BBC Alba. The Trust denied a proposal to launch a new local video service in late 2008 due to concerns about competition with commercial producers, especially newspapers moving online. The Trust has also recently demanded that the BBC makes more programmes outside of London.

In May 2008 the Trust published its review of the BBC's website (bbc.co.uk), criticising the service for financial mismanagement, including a £36 million overspend. The departure of Ashley Highfield, Director of the BBC's technology department has been linked to the findings of the review. In June 2008, the Trust was highly critical of the BBC's network news reporting of issues in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

The Trust was heavily criticised in the popular press for its review of the amount the BBC pays for "top talent" and failing to answer whether stars like Jonathan Ross and Graham Norton were worth their large licence fee funded salaries. Ross is thought to earn £6 million each year.

2009 Editorial Standards Committee report

In April 2009, the Editorial Standards Committee (ESC) of the BBC Trust published a report into three complaints brought against two news items involving Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen.[6] The report received widespread coverage in the UK and in Israel.[7][8][9][10][11]

The complaints included 24 allegations of breaching BBC guidelines on accuracy or impartiality of which three were fully or partially upheld.[8] The Independent's Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk was particularly critical of the ESC report, saying that the BBC Trust is "now a mouthpiece for the Israeli lobby".[10] An editorial in The Independent said that the report demonstrated "a terrible absence of good judgement".[11] Michael Lyons' response to the editorial, also published in The Independent, said that it is important to take complaints seriously and to be scrupulously careful about standards of accuracy and impartiality so that the BBC's reputation for fairness and impartiality is maintained.[12]

Expenses

Trustees were subject to severe press criticism in February 2008 after it emerged four Trustees had hosted a group of "opinion formers and stakeholders" at the Wimbledon tennis tournament, at a cost of over £20,000 of licence fee payers' money. The Trust members were vice-chairman Chitra Bharucha, Dermot Gleeson, Jeremy Peat and David Liddiment.

The Trust has also admitted that Sir Michael Lyons, the Trust chairman, claimed £13,000 in expenses between May and September 2007. This included £2,500 in taxi fares – even though he is provided with £25,000 annually towards the cost of a car and chauffeur.

The Trust Unit

The Trust is supported by a team of around 60 staff, known as the Trust Unit. These staff are independent from the BBC Executive and include specialists in audience research, performance analysis, and finance. The Trust Unit is headed by its Director, Nicholas Kroll.

In 2007/08 the BBC Trust cost £11.9 million to run. [13]


See also

References

  1. ^ a b Department for Culture, Media and Sport (on behalf of Elizabeth II) (2006-09-19). "BBC Royal Charter" (PDF). http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/regulatory_framework/charter_agreement/royalchartersealed_sept06.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-03-03. 
  2. ^ BBC (2006-10-12). "Press Release: New BBC Trust to represent the public interest". http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/10_october/12/trustees.shtml. Retrieved on 2006-11-28. 
  3. ^ BBC (2006-11-28). "Press Release: Michael Grade resigns as BBC Chairman". http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/11_november/28/grade.shtml. Retrieved on 2006-11-28. 
  4. ^ BBC Trust (2007-04-05). "Press release: Sir Michael Lyons appointed BBC Chairman". http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/press_releases/05_04_2007.html. Retrieved on 2007-04-10. 
  5. ^ BBC Trust (2008-06-19). "Annual Report and Accounts 2007/2008". http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/annualreport/pdf/bbc_ara_2008_trust.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-07-31. 
  6. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/appeals/esc_bulletins/2009/mar.pdf BBC Trust Editorial Standards Committee 03 March 2009
  7. ^ Jonny Paul, Complaints of BBC bias partially upheld, Jeruslam Post, 15 April 2009
  8. ^ a b Antony Lerman, The Guardian, 16 April 2009, What did Jeremy Bowen do wrong?
  9. ^ The Independent, 16 April 2009, Bowen 'breached rules on impartiality'
  10. ^ a b Robert Fisk, The Independent, 16 April 2009, Robert Fisk: How can you trust the cowardly BBC?
  11. ^ a b The Independent, 16 April 2009, Leading article: Bad judgement
  12. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/michael-lyons-we-have-a-duty-to-uphold-impartiality-1669926.html We have a duty to uphold impartiality
  13. ^ BBC Trust (2008-06-19). "Annual Report and Accounts 2007/2008". http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/annualreport/pdf/bbc_ara_2008_trust.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-04-29. 


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