Recommendation 32

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