Grade promises a more transparent BBC
The chairman of the BBC, Michael Grade, has given a strong defence of the BBC’s governance reforms in the post-Hutton inquiry era, and promised increased transparency of the corporation’s activities.
Giving evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Mr Grade told MPs that the new arrangements mean that management will no longer hold undue influence over the governors, and that the governors would now be empowered to seek independent advice.
One key criticism of the BBC contained in the Hutton inquiry was the readiness of the board of governors to leap to the defence of editorial staff, without properly investigating the facts of the complaint. It was suggested there was a conflict of interest between their role as defenders of the corporation and their regulators.
There has been some suggestion that the regulatory role of the governors should be reduced, and the BBC should come under the regulation of OFCOM, like other broadcasters. This will be resisted fiercely by the BBC.
Giving evidence as part of the ongoing process of the BBC Charter Review, Mr Grade insisted that there was no conflict of interest at the heart of the governors’ role, saying they “only exist as a body to serve the public interest” and that it should be the role of the governors to champion the BBC, not the management.
He admitted that the view of the BBC as “arrogant and self-satisfied” had been justified in the past, but said he hoped this was being addressed by the reforms, blaming a lack of transparency and objectivity within BBC decision making for this view.
Anthony Salz, the BBC’s vice chairman, added that ensuring accuracy and impartiality was in no way in conflict with their duty to the public, adding that in the private sector, regulators were often seen as an external threat to be resisted. In the BBC governors could act in collaboration with management.
Mr Grade stressed that from now on the “instinctive” response of governors to such an affair should be to launch an independent inquiry rather than immediately defend the management.
The director general of the BBC, Mark Thompson, also told the committee that the BBC is in the process of introducing a new complaints system that will be both faster and more responsive.
