MINUTES OF THE BBC TRUST MEETING
Held on Thursday 23 April 2009 in Conference Room A, Broadcasting House, Bristol
Present: Michael Lyons Chairman Chitra Bharucha Vice-Chairman Diane Coyle Trust Member Anthony Fry Trust Member Alison Hastings Trust Member for England (Items 36 – 45) Patricia Hodgson Trust Member Rotha Johnston Trust Member for Northern Ireland Janet Lewis Jones Trust Member for Wales David Liddiment Trust Member Richard Tait Trust Member Jeremy Peat Trust Member for Scotland (except 42)
Apologies: Mehmuda Mian Trust Member
In attendance Nicholas Kroll Director, BBC Trust from the Trust Phil Harrold Head of Secretariat and Governance Unit: Kate Atkins Senior Adviser, Secretariat and Governance Items 53 – 62, 64 Christopher Woolard Deputy Director - 67 Mark Devane Head of Communications Jon Cowdock Chief Strategy and Policy Adviser Items 56, 61– 63 Gareth Barr Senior Strategy and Policy Adviser Item 58 Gareth Tuck Senior Adviser, Performance Item 61 Bronwen Roscoe Senior Strategy Adviser Item 62 Julia Ockenden Finance and Strategy Adviser
For items: Items 60 – 64 Mark Thompson Director-General Items 60 – 64 Mark Byford Deputy Director-General Items 60 – 64 Caroline Thomson Chief Operating Officer Items 60 – 64 Zarin Patel Group Finance Director Items 60 – 64 Jessica Cecil Head of Director-General’s Office
Item 62 Peter Salmon Director, BBC North Item 62 Alice Webb Joint Programme Director, BBC North Item 63 John Tate Director, Policy and Strategy
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AGENDA
53 Minutes and Matters Arising
54 Committees and Audience Councils
55 Director’s Report
56 Chairman’s Royal Television Society Speech
57 Trust Website – Direct Communications
58 Radio 2/6 Music Review: Terms of Reference
59 Pension Trust Board: Appointment of Chairman
60 Director-General
61 BBC Management’s Proposals for Enhanced Nations and Regions Linear Services
62 Salford Update
63 Digital Britain, Partnerships and PSB
64 Election Guidelines
65 Items for Noting
66 Business Handling and Communications
67 Conflicts of Interest
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53 MINUTES AND MATTERS ARISING
53.1 The Trust approved the minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2009, subject to minor drafting changes. The Trust approved the publication of the minutes with no redactions.
53.2 The Trust noted the matters arising from the previous meeting.
54 COMMITTEES AND AUDIENCE COUNCILS
54.1 The Trust noted the reports from each of the committees and Audience Councils. The chairmen of each committee and council updated members on the major outcomes of their respective meetings.
55 DIRECTOR’S REPORT
55.1 The Director, BBC Trust presented his report, which provided an overview of activity undertaken by the Trust Unit and previewed the key issues to be considered by the Trust at the meeting.
55.2 Members discussed the Trust’s assessment processes for the Executive’s partnership proposals and agreed that the Strategic Approvals Committee (SAC) should – in accordance with its remit - consider individual proposals in detail as they were presented to the Trust by the Executive.
56 CHAIRMAN’S ROYAL TELEVISION SOCIETY SPEECH
56.1 Members discussed proposed key themes for the Chairman’s Royal Television Society speech on May 19, as presented in a paper from the Trust’s Head of Communications. The Trust agreed that the proposed key themes for the speech should be developed.
57 TRUST WEBSITE – DIRECT COMMUNICATIONS
57.1 Members discussed a paper, presented by the Trust’s Head of Communications, on how best to use the Trust website to communicate Trust decisions to audiences more informally. The Trust agreed to progress ideas for a Trustee diary in conjunction with the redesign of the Trust website.
58 RADIO 2/6 MUSIC REVIEW: TERMS OF REFERENCE
58.1 The Trust’s Senior Adviser, Performance introduced this item proposing terms of reference for the Trust’s fourth service review which would cover Radio 2 and 6 Music.
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58.2 The Trust discussed the scope of the review and approved the terms of reference. The Trust agreed that the review should launch with a public consultation on May 7 2009.
59 PENSION TRUST BOARD: APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN
59.1 The Trust noted the agreed conflicts of interest process in place for discussion about the BBC Pension Scheme (see note at minute 50). Jeremy Peat left the meeting for this item.
59.2 The Trust’s Head of Secretariat and Governance introduced this item which sought the Trust’s approval for filling the position of Chairman of the BBC Pension Trust Board when Jeremy Peat’s current term as Chairman finishes on 30 June 2009.
59.3 The Trust approved the continuation of Jeremy Peat’s term as the Chairman of the BBC Pension Trust Board until the end of his term as a member of the BBC Trust.
59.4 The Trust also approved the indexation of fees paid to the Trust-nominated Trustee on the Pension Trust Board in line with the fee increase accepted by members of the Trust last year, to come into effect immediately.
59.5 The Trust agreed that the Remuneration and Appointments Committee (RAC) should undertake a review and make a recommendation to the Trust on the long term options for future appointments from the BBC Trust to the Pension Trust Board.
60 DIRECTOR-GENERAL
60.1 The Director-General noted recent highlights from the BBC’s services and outlined the BBC’s approach to religious programming.
60.2 The Deputy Director-General outlined key stories covered recently in the BBC’s journalism output, including coverage of G20 and the Budget. He also noted the return of Formula 1 to the BBC.
60.3 The Director-General informed the Trust that Mary Hockaday had been appointed Head of the BBC’s multimedia newsroom.
60.4 The Trust discussed the impact of recent findings of the Editorial Standards Committee (ESC).
60.5 The Director-General updated the Trust on progress relating to the review of the editorial guidelines, including the work being undertaken on taste and standards.
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61 BBC MANAGEMENT’S PROPOSALS FOR ENHANCED NATIONS AND REGIONS LINEAR SERVICES
61.1 The BBC Executive presented a paper setting out revised proposals to strengthen the BBC’s linear TV and radio services for the nations and regions. This was in response to the Trust’s challenge to develop an alternative to the Executive’s local video proposals which were rejected by the Trust following a public value test.
61.2 The Executive outlined a range of proposals aimed at: • improving the quality, reputation and relevance of daily news provision • strengthening the BBC’s coverage of community life with targeted, high impact interventions • reaching under-served audiences through geographically targeted sport • celebrating and supporting the devolved nations’ rich and diverse cultures.
61.3 After discussing the public value created, the Trust approved the overall direction of the proposals and delegated detailed consideration to the Strategic Approvals Committee (SAC). Other issues raised, including FM coverage in Wales and news provision in Scotland, were remitted to separate discussion.
62 SALFORD UPDATE
62.1 The Director, BBC North updated the Trust on the Executive’s plans to create a substantial creative centre as part of MediaCityUK in Salford. Topics covered included the site and buildings, staffing, technology and partnerships. Around 2,500 roles were due to be based at MediaCityUK, including Sport, Formal Learning, Children’s, Radio 5 Live and parts of Future Media and Technology.
63 DIGITAL BRITAIN, PARTNERSHIPS AND PSB
63.1 The Executive updated the Trust on their ongoing engagement with 'Digital Britain' and its proposals for partnerships which would offer substantial and sustainable new value for the industry and audiences. These included discussions between BBC Worldwide and Channel 4 and those between the BBC and ITV relating to regional news.
63.2 The Trust agreed to set up a working group to oversee development both on partnerships and on the broader ‘Digital Britain’ agenda.
64 ELECTION GUIDELINES
64.1 The Executive presented a paper which sought the Trust’s approval for the election guidelines for the European Parliamentary and Local Government Elections, which are due to take place on 4 June 2009.
64.2 The Trust agreed to approve the guidelines which would come into effect on 28 6
April when the election period began.
65 ITEMS FOR NOTING (a) Commissioning letter to the Executive on BBC Editorial Guidelines (b) Minutes of Trust committees and Audience Councils (c) Documents for sealing
66 BUSINESS HANDLING AND COMMUNICATIONS
66.1 The Trust discussed the handling and communication of items considered at the meeting.
67 CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
67.1 For discussion related to the BBC Pension Scheme, Jeremy Peat left the meeting. Mr Peat is the Chairman of the BBC Pension Fund Trustees and as such is potentially conflicted regarding decisions related to the scheme. This matter is declared in Mr Peat’s register of interests, which is publicly available on the Trust’s website.
67.2 A number of the members of the Trust are in receipt of a BBC pension due to previous employment with the Corporation. Some members have family members or close relatives who are current members of the BBC Pension Scheme, or in receipt of a BBC pension. Trust members who have a close family member employed by the BBC have declared this in their register of interests.
67.3 The Trust has assessed the potential for conflicts regarding decisions on the BBC Pension Scheme and determined that the actions and declarations outlined above are proportionate and appropriate.
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