MINUTES OF THE BBC TRUST MEETING

Held on Wednesday 4 July 2012 in the BBC Trust boardroom, Great Portland Street, London

Present: Lord Patten Chairman Diane Coyle Vice Chairman Richard Ayre Trust member Anthony Fry Trust member Alison Hastings Trust member for England Rotha Johnston Trust member for Northern Ireland Bill Matthews Trust member for Scotland Mehmuda Mian Trust member Elan Closs Stephens Trust member for Wales Suzanna Taverne Trust member Lord Williams Trust member

Apologies: David Liddiment Trust member

In attendance from the Trust Unit: Nicholas Kroll Director, BBC Trust Alex Towers Deputy Director Phil Harrold Head of Governance

In attendance from the Executive: George Entwistle Director-General Designate (from 100.10)

100 DIRECTOR-GENERAL APPOINTMENT

100.1 The Chairman welcomed all Trust members to the meeting, noting that David Liddiment was unable to join the meeting due to a personal appointment that had delayed his arrival.

100.2 The Chairman reported the considerations of the interview panel for the post of Director-General which had met the previous day and interviewed candidates for the role. The interview panel had consisted of the Chairman; the Vice Chairman; the chairs of the Audience and Performance Committee (David Liddiment), the Finance Committee (Anthony Fry), and the Editorial Standards Committee (Alison Hastings); and the Trust member for Wales (Elan Closs Stephens).

100.3 The Chairman noted the considerable strengths of all the candidates interviewed for the role, which had been discussed in depth by the interview panel and by other Trust members.

100.4 The unanimous recommendation of the interview panel was that George Entwistle should be offered the role of Director-General.

100.5 Mr Entwistle is the Director, BBC Vision, a role held since 2011. Prior to this role he was the Controller of Knowledge Commissioning and Controller of Editorial Standards at BBC Vision. In 2007 he was Acting Controller of BBC Four. He joined the BBC as a Broadcast Journalism Trainee and during his employment with the Corporation had been responsible for some of the BBC's most high profile programmes including Panorama, while he was Head of Current Affairs, and , of which he was the editor. Prior to joining the BBC Mr Entwistle worked for Haymarket Publishing.

100.6 The Director, BBC Trust, outlined the terms of the appointment, which had previously been considered by the Trust. The Trust agreed that Mr Entwistle should be offered a permanent staff contract with the BBC, on a salary of £450,000 per annum. Benefits and conditions would reflect those previously provided to the Director-General and to other BBC staff.

100.7 On the recommendation of the interview panel, the Trust unanimously resolved to appoint George Entwistle as the 15th Director-General of the BBC, and Chairman of the BBC’s Executive Board.

100.8 Mr Entwistle would immediately take the role of Director-General Designate alongside his existing role of Director, BBC Vision, with the exact date of handover to be agreed with the current Director-General, although expected to be sometime in the autumn.

100.9 The Director, BBC Trust, outlined the process for announcing the appointment.

100.10 Mr Entwistle joined the meeting of the Trust. Mr Entwistle confirmed that he would accept the role of Director-General and said that he was very pleased to be offered the role. He spoke of the privilege of being offered the opportunity to lead the BBC into the next stage of its creative life.

100.11 The Chairman stated that he believed that Mr Entwistle would be formidable Director-General of the Corporation, and that he and the whole Trust looked forward to working with him in the years to come.