BBC Trust chair calls for ‘strong’ external regulator
BBC Trust chair Rona Fairhead has outlined her stance on the future regulation of the broadcaster, calling for an external regulator with ‘fairly strong powers’ to assume its oversight responsibilities.
Speaking to the Oxford Media Convention Fairhead said that responsibility for regulation and accountability should be distanced from the Trust directly, so as to eliminate “… possibility of vagueness or uncertainty about who will be held responsible for what, when the chips are down.”
Fairhead added: “The cleanest form of separation would be to transfer the Trust's responsibilities for regulation and accountability to an external regulator.
"For it to work, the regulator would need to have fairly strong powers and levers - to hold the BBC to its public purposes and to the standards that audiences expect; and to prevent undue damage to the commercial market."
As part of this strategy the BBC Executive would retain control of strategy, financial and operational management with the BBC Board and regulator serving as a ‘protective buffer’ against government interference.