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Appointment details

BBC Board Member for Wales

Summary

• Organisation: British Broadcasting Corporation
• Sponsor department: Department for Culture, Media and Sport
• Location: Various
• Sectors: Culture, Media & Sport
• Skills: Business, Commercial, Communication, Media
• Number of vacancies: 1
• Time commitment: 2 day(s) per week
• Remuneration: £38000 per annum
• Length of term: 4 years
• Application deadline: 11:59pm on 8 November 2023

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Timeline for this appointment

1. Opening date

   11 October 2023

2. Application deadline

   11:59pm on 8 November 2023

3. Sifting date

   4 December 2023

4. Interviews expected to end on

   9 January 2024

Timeline dates are only an estimate and can change

About the appointment

Appointment description

Non-executive directors have particular responsibility for:

• Bringing an external perspective to bear on the business of the BBC and contributing to the development of effective strategy and organisational change.

• Ensuring that the Board’s decision-making is in the public interest informed by the best interests of the audience and with appropriate regard to the impact of decisions on the wider media market in the UK.

• Providing an independent, objective viewpoint on the Board to test and constructively challenge management.

• Playing a key role in ensuring that the BBC maintains the highest standards of corporate governance, particularly with respect to financial reporting, internal control and risk management.

The Board Member for Wales will be required to Chair the Wales Committee. The remit of the Committee is to require that the BBC provides output and services that meet the needs of Wales, and that the BBC fulfils its public purpose in relation to the Nations and Regions of the United Kingdom. The Committee meets at least three times a year and is comprised of: this appointee as Chair of the committee; the Director of Nations and Regions for BBC; and the Director of BBC Wales.

Organisation description

The British Broadcasting Corporation is the world’s leading public service broadcaster and occupies a special place in the cultural life of the UK. 

The BBC’s mission is defined by the Royal Charter: to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain.

It does this through delivering five public purposes:

• To provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them.
• To support learning for people of all ages.
• To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services.
• To reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions and, in doing so, support the creative economy across the United Kingdom.
• To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world.

The BBC is independent in all matters concerning the fulfilment of its mission and the promotion of the public purposes. It is funded primarily by the licence fee and seeks to deliver distinctive content that serves all audiences. It does this through:

• A portfolio of television services, including the UK’s most popular channel BBC One, the 24-hour News Channel, acclaimed channels for Children and the young-audience service BBC Three, as well as national and regional television programmes and services across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
• Ten UK-wide radio networks, providing the best live music and speech broadcasting in the United Kingdom, catering to all audiences.
• Two national radio services in each of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, catering to both English and indigenous language audiences, as well as 39 local radio stations across England and the Channel Islands, all of which provide a unique and local service to listeners.
• Award-winning and industry-defining digital products including iPlayer, BBC Sounds, apps for News, Sport and Weather, Children’s online services, as well as a significant digital archive.
• By providing trusted and impartial news and information for audiences across the world, delivered through the BBC World Service on television, radio and online in more than 40 languages.

In addition to this, the BBC’s commercial operations – including the producer and distributor BBC Studios and the Studioworks production services business generate additional revenue for investment in new programming and services for UK audiences.

The BBC has an annual income of c.£5bn, made up of licence fee and commercial revenues. It employs around 20,000 permanent staff and works with hundreds of contractors and freelancers across the industry. It has bases in all four Nations of the United Kingdom, along with bureaux and offices across the globe.

Each year the BBC is required to publish an Annual Plan, setting out details of its creative remit for the forthcoming year, and an Annual Report and Accounts, reporting back on performance in the previous year. 

Board composition

The Charter requires the BBC to ensure that it provides output and services that meet the needs of the United Kingdom’s nations, regions and communities. To help the BBC deliver this duty, the Board includes non-executive Board members representing Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.  

Nations members of the BBC Board are appointed by the UK Government with the agreement of the relevant devolved administration - the Welsh Government in this instance.

Collectively, Board members are responsible for ensuring the BBC effectively, efficiently and independently exercises its functions as set out in the BBC’s Royal Charter and Framework Agreement. These are to:

• Uphold and protect the independence of the BBC.

• Ensure that the BBC fulfils its mission and promotes its public purposes.

• Act in the public interest, ensuring that the benefits of decisions relating to the fulfilment of the mission and promotion of its purposes outweigh the costs. 

• Set the BBC’s strategic direction and budget.

• Set a performance assessment framework and monitor delivery against it.

• Set the BBC’s editorial and creative direction, and standards.

• Ensure the proper handling of complaints about the BBC.

• Ensure the effective and efficient management of the BBC and its commercial subsidiaries.

• Exercise rigorous stewardship of public money, securing the effective and efficient management of the BBC’s finances.

• Ensure that the BBC complies with its legal obligations including those set by the Royal Charter.

• Consider proposals for material changes to the BBC’s UK Public Services, non-service activities, trading activities and commercial services.

• Observe high standards of openness and seek to maximise transparency and accountability.

• Appoint, and hold to account, the management of the BBC.

• Monitor the BBC’s engagement with, and reporting of performance to, its stakeholders, in particular to licence fee payers, and ensure it is assessing and meeting the needs of the diverse communities of the UK.

Regulation of appointment

This post is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. For more information, please refer to the Commissioner’s website 

Person specification

Essential criteria

All candidates must be able to demonstrate a commitment to the independence, mission and public purposes of the BBC, as well as demonstrating that they meet a majority of the following criteria to a high degree:

• Experience working at the highest level of public or commercial life in the UK and/or internationally, with experience of sitting on commercial and/or public sector boards.
• An understanding of the key challenges and opportunities facing public service broadcasting in the UK as well the commercial media sector (UK and global) and the impact on audiences.
• A proven ability to think through complex issues strategically, independently and imaginatively.
• A commitment to upholding the BBC’s Editorial Standards, including independence and impartiality.
• Experience exercising excellent financial stewardship and securing value for money.
• Excellent communication and relationship management skills, and the ability to represent the BBC capably to a wide range of stakeholder groups, including audiences, parliamentarians and the media.

In addition to the essential skills and experience listed above for all non-executive appointments for the BBC, applicants for the role of Board Member for Wales must be able to demonstrate the following attributes:

• A strong knowledge of the culture, characteristics and affairs of the people of Wales.
• An understanding of views of audiences and public opinion in Wales.
• An understanding of media production in Wales in both the Welsh and English languages, as well as the ability to bring an external perspective to the BBC’s partnerships in Wales, including with the Welsh language broadcaster S4C. 

It would also be preferable for candidates to have a business or residential base within Wales.

Application and selection process

How to apply

In order to apply you will need to create an account or sign in.

Once you are logged into your account, click on 'apply for this role' and follow the on-screen instructions. To apply, all candidates are required to provide:

• a Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• a supporting statement
• equality information
• information relating to any outside interests or reputational issues

We will ask you to check and confirm your personal details to ensure your application is accurate.

You will also have the opportunity to make a reasonable adjustment request or apply under the disability confident scheme before you submit your application.

Overview of the application process

This appointment will be made by The King-in-Council on the recommendation of DCMS ministers through the Prime Minister. The appointments process will follow the Nolan principles and is regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice, which is based on three core principles of merit, openness and fairness.

For the appointment to the position of Board Member for Wales, agreement with Welsh Government will be required.

Public appointments are made on merit following a fair and open competition process which is conducted in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments. We will deal with your application as quickly as possible and will keep you informed at key stages. We aim to conclude the appointment process within three months of the deadline for applications – this is in accordance with the Governance Code.

The assessment process

1. Ministers are responsible and accountable to Parliament for the public appointments made within their department. As a result, they must be consulted at every stage of the appointments process.

2. An Advisory Assessment Panel (“Panel”) is appointed by Ministers to assist them in their decision making. The role of the Panel is to decide, objectively, which candidates meet the eligibility criteria for the role.

3. At the shortlisting meeting the Panel will assess applications against the eligibility criteria and decide which candidates have best met the criteria, who should be recommended for interview. Ministers will then be consulted on the Panel’s recommended shortlist. If you have applied under the Disability Confident Scheme and you meet all the essential criteria, then you will also be invited for an interview.

4. Once the shortlist has been agreed by Ministers, you will be advised (by e-mail) whether you have been shortlisted. Those shortlisted will be invited to an interview.

5. The Panel will meet again to interview candidates and determine who is appointable to the role. The Panel may invite you to make a brief presentation at the start of the interview and will go on to question you about your skills and experience, including asking specific questions to assess whether you meet the criteria set out for the post. The Panel will also explore with you any potential conflicts of interest or any other issues arising from your personal and professional history which may impact on an appointment decision.

6. Details of the panel’s assessment of interviewed candidates are provided to Ministers, including whether they have judged a candidate to be appointable to the role. It is then for Ministers to determine merit and decide who should be appointed. In some circumstances, Ministers may choose not to appoint any candidates and re-run the competition.

7. Ministers may choose to meet with candidates before deciding the outcome. Candidates should therefore be prepared for a short time gap between interview and a final appointment decision being made. Candidates who have been interviewed will be kept informed of progress.

8. Once the decision on the appointment has been made, interviewed candidates will be advised of the outcome of their application, including whom they may approach for feedback. Successful candidates will be issued with their Terms & Conditions and a letter of appointment should they agree to take up the position.

Further information about appointments, including tips on applying, can be found on our guidance pages on gov.uk.

Advisory Assessment Panel (AAP)

• Robert Specterman-Green - DCMS Director of Media and Creative Industries - Panel Chair
• Dame Elan Closs Stephens DBE, DL - Acting BBC Chair - Public Body Representative
• Gerwyn Evans - Deputy Director, Creative Wales - Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh Government Representative
• Claire Lawrie - Independent Panel Member
• Paul Wood - Additional Panel Member 

Advisory Assessment Panels (AAP) are chosen by ministers to assist them in their decision-making. These include a departmental official and an independent member. For competitions recruiting non-executive members of a board (apart from the Chair), the panel will usually include a representative from the public body concerned.

AAP’s perform a number of functions, including agreeing an assessment strategy with ministers, undertaking sifting, carrying out interviews in line with the advertised criteria and deciding objectively who meets the published selection criteria for the role before recommending to ministers which candidates they find appointable. It is then for the minister to decide who to appoint to the role.

Eligibility criteria

In general, you should have the right to work in the UK to be eligible to apply for a public appointment.

There are a small number of specialist roles that are not open to non-British citizens. Any nationality requirements will be specified in the vacancy details.

The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards. 

You cannot be considered for a public appointment if:

• you are disqualified from acting as a company director  (under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986);

• have an unspent conviction on your criminal record;

• your estate has been sequestrated in Scotland or you enter into a debt arrangement programme under Part 1 of the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 17) as the debtor or have, under Scots law, granted a trust deed for creditors.

When you apply, you should declare if:

• you are, or have been, bankrupt or you have made an arrangement with a creditor at any point, including the dates of this. 

• you are subject to a current police investigation.

You must inform the sponsor department if, during the application process, your circumstances change in respect of any of the above points. 

When you apply you should also declare any relevant interests, highlighting any that you think may call into question your ability to properly discharge the responsibilities of the role you are applying for. You should also declare any other matters which may mean you may not be able to meet the requirements of the Code of Conduct of Board Members (see Outside interests and reputational issues section below)

If you need further advice, please contact publicappointments@dcms.gov.uk

Security clearance

The successful candidate will be required to undertake Baseline Personnel Security Standard checks in line with the Civil Service guidelines. Additional Security Clearance may also be required for certain roles. However, where this applies, candidates will be notified during the appointment process. Further information on National Security Vetting can be found on the Gov.uk website here.

Additional information for candidates

Equality and diversity

We encourage applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and across the whole of the United Kingdom. Boards of public bodies are most effective when they reflect the diversity of views of the society they serve and this is an important part of the Government’s levelling up agenda.

We collect data about applicants’ characteristics and backgrounds, including information about people’s educational and professional backgrounds, so that we can make sure we are attracting a broad range of people to these roles and that our selection processes are fair for everyone. Without this information, it makes it difficult to see if our outreach is working, if the application process is having an unfair impact on certain groups and whether changes are making a positive difference.

When you submit your application, your responses are collected by the Cabinet Office and the government department(s) managing your application. The data is used to produce management information about the diversity of applicants. You can select “prefer not to say” to any question you do not wish to answer. The information you provide will not be seen by the Advisory Assessment Panel who review applications against the advertised criteria and conduct interviews.

Disability confident

We are a member of the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. We use the Disability Confident scheme symbol, along with other like-minded employers, to show our commitment to good practice in employing people with a disability. The scheme helps recruit and retain disabled people. 

As part of implementing the scheme, we guarantee an interview for anyone with a disability whose application meets the essential criteria for the role, set out in the advert, and who has asked that their application is considered under the scheme. Indicating that you wish your application to be considered under the scheme will in no way prejudice your application. By ‘minimum criteria,’ we mean that you must provide evidence which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required under each of the essential criteria, as set out in the job-advert.

When you apply you will have the opportunity to select if you would like your application considered under this scheme.

Reasonable adjustments

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to make sure applicants with disabilities, physical or mental health conditions, or other needs are not substantially disadvantaged when applying for public appointments. This can include changing the recruitment process to enable people who wish to apply to do so.

Some examples of common changes are:

• ensuring that application forms are available in different or accessible formats;
• making adaptations to interview locations;
• allowing candidates to present their skills and experience in a different way;
• giving additional detailed information on the selection / interview process in advance to allow candidates time to prepare themselves;
• allowing support workers, for example sign language interpreters;
• making provision for support animals to attend.

When you apply you will have the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments to the application process.

Principles of public life

Holders of public office are expected to adhere to and uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-7-principles-of-public-life/the-7-principles-of-public-life--2. These are:

1. SELFLESSNESS - Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family or their friends;
2. INTEGRITY - Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their official duties;
3. OBJECTIVITY - In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit;
4. ACCOUNTABILITY - Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office;
5. OPENNESS - Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands;
6. HONESTY - Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest;
7. LEADERSHIP - Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example.

Code of conduct for board members

The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards. In support of this, all non-executive board members of UK public bodies must abide by the principles set out in the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. The Code sets out the standards expected from those who serve on the boards of UK public bodies and will form part of your terms and conditions of appointment.

Management of outside interests and consideration of reputational issues

Holders of public office are expected to adhere and uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life and the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. Before you apply you should consider carefully: 

• any outside interests that you may have, such as shares you may hold in a company providing services to government; 
• any possible reputational issues arising from your past actions or public statements that you have made; 
• and/or - any political roles you hold or political campaigns you have supported; 

which may call into question your ability to do the role you are applying for.

You will need to answer relevant questions in relation to these points when making an application. Many conflicts of interest can be satisfactorily resolved and declaring a potential conflict does not prevent you from being interviewed. If you are shortlisted for an interview, the panel will discuss any potential conflicts with you during that interview, including any proposals you may have to mitigate them and record that in their advice to ministers. Alongside your own declaration, we will conduct appropriate checks, as part of which we will consider anything in the public domain related to your conduct or professional capacity. This may include searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information. The successful candidate(s) may be required to give up any conflicting interests and their other business and financial interests may be published in line with organisational policies. 

Details of declared political activity will be published when the appointment is announced, as required by the Governance Code (political activity is not a bar to appointment, but must be declared).

Status of appointment

As this is an office holder appointment, you will not become a member of the Civil Service. You will not be subject to the provisions of employment law.

Appointment and tenure of office

Appointments are for the term set out in this advert, with the possibility of re-appointment for a further term, at the discretion of Ministers.  Any re-appointment is subject to satisfactory annual appraisals of performance during the first term in the post. There is no automatic presumption of reappointment; each case should be considered on its own merits, taking into account a number of factors including, but not restricted to, the diversity of the current board and its balance of skills and experience. In most cases, the total time served in post will not exceed more than two terms or serve in any one post for more than ten years

Remuneration, allowances and abatement

Remuneration for this role is treated as employment income and will be subject to tax and National Insurance contributions, both of which will be deducted at source under PAYE before you are paid. 

You can claim reimbursement for reasonable travel and subsistence costs which are properly and necessarily incurred on official business, in line with the travel and subsistence policy and rates for the organisation to which you are applying.

Pension and redundancy

This is an office holder appointment and does not attract any benefits under any Civil Service Pension Scheme. You will not be eligible for redundancy pay as you are not an employee. No other arrangements have been made for compensation upon the end of your term of appointment because an office holder who is appointed for a limited duration would have no expectation of serving beyond that period.

Application feedback

We will notify you of the status of your application. We regret that we are only able to offer detailed feedback to candidates who have been unsuccessful at the interview stage.

How to complain

We aim to process all applications as quickly as possible and to treat all applicants with courtesy.

Please contact the DCMS public appointments team in the first instance if you would like to make a complaint regarding your application at publicappointments@dcms.gov.uk.

They will acknowledge your complaint upon receipt and respond within 15 working days.

How to complain to Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA)

If you are not content with the appointing department’s response you may wish to further complain to the Commissioner at publicappointments@csc.gov.uk.Further information on how the Commissioner handles complaints can be found on the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ website https://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/regulating-appointments/investigating-complaints/

Data protection

The Cabinet Office will use your data in line with our privacy policy.

Contact details

For a conversation in confidence, please contact: Jemma Terry on jemma.terry@odgersberndtson.com or Steffan Griffiths on steffan.griffiths@odgersberndtson.com