Appointment of Richard Sharp as Chair of the BBC

The public appointments process can only work effectively if all those involved are open and transparent. Richard Sharp chose to tell the then Prime Minister both of his application to Chair the BBC and of his involvement in the arrangement of a loan for the Mr Johnson but decided not to tell either the appointment panel or this Committee about his actions. The Prime Minister, the panel and this Committee are all integral to the appointment process for the Chair of the BBC, but only Mr Johnson was fully aware of Mr Sharp’s potential conflict at the time the appointment was made. The Government, and all those involved in the public appointments process must ensure that the future public appointments process is not clouded by partial disclosure.

There remains an unresolved issue about why the Cabinet Secretary believed Mr Sharp had been giving financial advice to the then Prime Minister, which Mr Sharp insists that he had not done. The Cabinet Office should clear up the confusion relating to the advice given to the Prime Minister immediately.

In deciding not to recuse himself from involvement in Sam Blyth’s loan to the then Prime Minister nor to reveal his involvement to either this Committee or the appointments panel, Mr Sharp decided to leave our Committee without the full facts we required to make an informed judgement on his suitability as a candidate. There can be no question that Mr Sharp’s decision not to divulge his involvement in the loan guarantee denied this Committee the opportunity to fulfil its scrutiny role when he appeared before it.

Mr Sharp has accepted that his failure to disclose this involvement has caused embarrassment to him and the BBC and has potentially been misconstrued, both of which are tests on conflicts that the public appointments process specifically requires candidates to consider. However, he continues to rely on a reassurance from the Cabinet Secretary that the situation was resolved.

Richard Sharp’s decisions, firstly to become involved in the facilitation of a loan to the then Prime Minister while at the same time applying for a job that was in that same person’s gift, and then to fail to disclose this material relationship, were significant errors of judgement, which undermine confidence in the public appointments process and could deter qualified individuals from applying for such posts. Mr Sharp’s failure to disclose his actions to the panel and the Committee, although he believed this to be completely proper, constitute a breach of the standards expected of individuals applying for such public appointments. The booklet ‘Public Appointments, Probity & conflicts of interest: a guide for candidates’, which candidates are signposted to read, specifically cites ‘Perception of rewards for past contributions or favours’ as one of the issues that could lead to real or apparent conflicts of interest. Appointment of Richard Sharp as Chair of the BBC 15

The fact that Ministers have cited this Committee’s original report on Mr Sharp’s appointment as a defence of the process was followed, when we were not in full possession of all the facts that we should have had before us in order to come to our judgement, is highly unsatisfactory. Mr Sharp should consider the impact his omissions will have on trust in him, the BBC and the public appointments process. 16 Appointment of Richard Sharp as Chair of the BBC