Select committee: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Conclusion 22
Third Report - Pre-appointment hearing for Chair of the BBC Board
Published 15 Dec 2023
Addressed to Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Pre-appointment hearing for Chair of the BBC All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Dr Shah responded to our concerns about the BBC’s impartiality and independence from the Government, and the need for accountability from the organisation and from the Chair specifically to Parliament and the public. We have no grounds for concern about Dr Shah’s reported conflicts of interest, given his proposed mitigations, including resignations and recusal as required.
From: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Third Report - Pre-appointment hearing for Chair of the BBC Board (HC 383), 15 December 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 19 December 2023 (deadline 15 February 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Secretary of State welcomes the Committee's view that Dr Samir Shah is appointable as BBC Chair, confirms his appointment will go to the Privy Council, and says she notes the points made in the Committee's report.
- On the appointment, the government says Dr Shah's appointment "will now be put to the next meeting of the Privy Council for His Majesty The King's final approval".
- On the Committee's concerns about engagement with the department, the letter sets out the Secretary of State's view of the Committee's work and states the department is "committed to continuing to work constructively with the Committee in the New Year".
- On the delay in providing paperwork, the government says the extension was "required in order to complete the necessary steps", including notifying candidates and "working through mitigations to conflicts of interest".
- The government says it is "eager to work with the Committee to assist scrutiny of the Football Governance Bill", which will establish a new Independent Football Regulator.