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Today the Â鶹Éç Trust and Â鶹Éç Executive have published the conclusions of their joint review of Â鶹Éç governance, and announced a series of changes to the working relationship between the Trust and Executive.

The review was launched in September 2013 following a year of difficult events at the Â鶹Éç which highlighted a need to clarify roles and responsibilities and improve the working culture between the two parts of the Corporation.

The key conclusion of the review is that, while much of the current governance system works well, there is confusion about who is responsible for what in certain key operational areas and this has undermined confidence in the governance and operation of the Â鶹Éç. As a result the Â鶹Éç and the Trust have committed to a series of actions, approved by the Trustees and the Executive Board, which will come into effect from 1 April 2014.

These actions will mean there will be greater clarity to people inside and outside the Â鶹Éç that the Executive Board is responsible for making decisions about its operations and the Â鶹Éç Trust is responsible for assessing its performance.

The Â鶹Éç is also announcing today that Sir Howard Stringer, former Chairman and CEO of Sony Corporation will be joining the Â鶹Éç Executive Board as a Non-Executive Director from 1st January 2014. Sir Howard was previously President of the CBS network and will bring his extensive broadcasting and commercial experience to this role.

The actions announced today include:

• Clearer roles and responsibilities – there will be greater separation between the Trust and Executive, with the Trust clearly responsible for setting the overall strategic framework for the Â鶹Éç and the Executive responsible for delivering within this. The Trust will not involve itself in operational decision making. This will require a change in the working culture on both sides, with more agreement on where information should to be shared and where operational responsibilities lie. The Trust will also publish the objectives and priorities that it sets for the Â鶹Éç Executive.
• New three-stage performance reporting – to ensure better monitoring of how specific Â鶹Éç projects are progressing and ensure that issues are identified and dealt with early, the Executive will report to the Trust more comprehensively throughout the year. There will be new quarterly business updates from the Executive to the Trust, formal reviews by the Trust of individual projects, and – if necessary – an ‘Exceptional Business Report’ from the Executive to the Trust if a project is at serious risk.
• Increase in number and role of Non-Executive Directors – the Executive will increase the number of Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) on its board from four to six, and their role to provide external expertise and challenge will be strengthened, including adopting a more prominent public-facing role and joining the Director-General to give evidence before Parliamentary Committees. This complements the work already undertaken by the Director-General to radically reform Executive decision making, removing unnecessary boards and committees. The announcement today of Sir Howard Stringer as a Non-Executive Director is the first in the series of new non-Exec appointments which will continue in the new year.
• Improving transparency – a series of meetings between the Trust and Executive will be filmed and broadcast via the Trust website. It is expected that these will initially include discussions on the conclusions of the Trust’s reviews of Â鶹Éç services, and end of year performance discussions. The Trust will expand its successful programme of public consultation and audience engagement, and ask licence fee payers to help set the priorities for the Â鶹Éç each year, which will then be published.

Â鶹Éç Trust Chairman Lord Patten said:

"People don’t just expect the Â鶹Éç to produce great programmes, they want it to be run well. While much has gone well in the past, the last 15 months have seen a number of significant failures. As a result Tony Hall and I have agreed some very sensible changes to how the relationship between the Trust and Executive works, so we are clearer about who does what, and we are accountable and transparent. It means the Â鶹Éç can get on with the job of running the Â鶹Éç, and the Trust can rightly focus on holding the Executive to account on behalf of licence fee payers."

Â鶹Éç Director-General Tony Hall said:

"This is an important first step in making the Â鶹Éç simpler and better run. And, I'm delighted that Sir Howard Stringer will be joining as a Non-Executive Director."

The review findings can be found below.

Notes to editors

• Dame Fiona Reynolds has had her term extended as a Non-Executive Director (and senior independent director) for a further term of three years from 1 January 2014.

• Sally Davis will be stepping down on 31 December 2013 as a Non-Executive Director as her term has concluded.

• Sir Howard served as Chairman and CEO of the Sony Corporation from June 2005 until June 2012 when he became Chairman of the Board of Directors, retiring in June 2013.

Sir Howard joined Sony in May 1997 and was named Chairman and CEO of the Sony Corporation of America in 1998, responsible for Sony’s entertainment companies, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment , and Sony Music Publishing.

Prior to joining Sony, Sir Howard was President of CBS from 1988 to 1995, which became the first network to rise from last to first place in one season.

From 1986 to 1988, Sir Howard served as President of CBS News, He was executive producer of the CBS EVENING NEWS with Dan Rather from 1981 to 1984, the dominant network evening newscast of its day. From 1976 to 1981, while he was executive producer of the CBS REPORTS, the documentary unit won more than 30 Emmys including nine individual awards.

He holds a B.A. and an M.A. in modern history from Oxford University.