Access key 0 - Accessibility, Access key 2 - Jump to content, Access key 7 - Jump to navigation
Skip To Content | Skip To Navigation
 

Home > About Ofcom > Accountability > Annual Reports and Plans > Ofcom Annual Report 2007 - 08 > Board Committees


Board Committees

In the exercise of its powers under the Office of Communications Act 2002, the Board delegates certain of its responsibilities to the Executives within Ofcom and certain responsibilities to Board Committees with clearly defined authority and terms of reference.

The composition and main functions of these principal Committees are described below.

The Content Board

Section 12(1) of the Communications Act requires Ofcom to establish a Content Board. It has delegated and advisory responsibilities for a wide range of broadcasting content issues and media literacy.

The Content Board meets monthly and held 11 meetings during the year. The Members of the Content Board are:

Tim Suter resigned from the Content Board on 30 November 2007. Chris Banatvala and Stewart Purvis are the only Executive Members of the Content Board.

During the year the Content Board played a major role in a number of key areas.

It contributed substantially to the development of the first phase of Ofcom’s Public Service Broadcast review with a particular interest in the Nations and Regions. It also contributed to Shaping the Future of Radio and New News, Future News documents. In each case Content Board members contributed individually as well as collectively to the process.

The Content Board’s other major role was in the development of Ofcom’s media literacy strategy and subsequently its contribution to the Byron Review, where the Board oversaw Ofcom’s input to the review team.

The issues surrounding telephone Premium Rate Services in television were a major focus for Ofcom for a large part of the year. Richard Ayre led an inquiry into the issues connected to PRS and the resulting policy proposals have toughened licence requirements for television broadcasters to protect consumers.

Kath Worrall , Chair of the Fairness Committee, led a project as a result of which guidelines for the use of children in television programmes were significantly strengthened.

Members of the Content Board are also members of the Radio Licensing Committee and took part in a very busy year for both the Sanctions and Fairness and Privacy Committees. During the period under review, 27 cases were considered by the Fairness Committee and the Content Sanctions Committee applied sanctions in 11 cases. These included several high profile cases including: Celebrity Big Brother; Undercover Mosque; Richard and Judy and GMTV. Full details of the work of the committees are given on pages 42 and 43.

The Executive Committee

ExCo is the senior executive team responsible for overseeing the management of Ofcom. Its core focus is on setting direction for the organisation , financial and administrative decision-taking and monitoring. Its policy-making responsibilities are limited to management policy only.

The members of ExCo are:

Tim Suter resigned from Exco on 3 May 2007. The following colleagues resigned from ExCo on 18 December 2007: Janet Campbell, Rona Chester, Graham Howell, Peter Ingram and Dominic Morris. Ian Hargreaves resigned from ExCo on 31 May 2008.

Other senior Ofcom colleagues are invited to attend meetings of ExCo on an ad-hoc basis.

The Audit Committee

The Audit Committee comprises three Non-Executive Members of the Ofcom Board and an independent external Non-Executive Chair. The members of the Audit Committee are:

Stephanie Liston resigned from the Committee on 31 March 2008.

Peter Teague , the external independent Chair, is a qualified chartered accountant and satisfies the requirement under the Combined Code that one Member of the Committee has relevant financial experience. The additional requirements of the Combined Code are met to the extent that three Members of the Committee are independent Non-Executive Members of the Ofcom Board.

The Chief Executive and Finance Director are invited to attend Committee meetings, as are the internal and external auditors. The Chairman of the Audit Committee reports the outcome of Audit Committee meetings to the Ofcom Board through the Chairman of Ofcom, David Currie, and meets with the Ofcom Board at least once a year.

The main duties of the Audit Committee are to:

The internal audit function is carried out independently from Ofcom by KPMG. The Audit Committee believes it is appropriate for the internal auditors, in addition, to provide Ofcom with specific advice on internal risks. The provision of other services by KPMG to Ofcom is decided on a case-by-case basis. The external audit function is carried out by the National Audit Office.

The Audit Committee met four times during the year. The terms of reference are available on the Ofcom website.

Peter Teague is paid £5,033 per annum for the provision of his services as Chair of the Audit Committee. Peter Teague received an additional £5,033 for overseeing an independent monitoring of Ofcom’s IS Reorganisation Programme.

The Remuneration Committee

The Remuneration Committee consists of four Non-Executive Members of the Ofcom Board. The members of the Remuneration Committee are:

Sara Nathan resigned from the Committee on 31 December 2007.

The Chief Executive and the HR Director attend meetings at the invitation of the Remuneration Committee.

The Committee advises Ofcom on the remuneration and terms and conditions of service for the Chief Executive, other Executive Members of the Board and Members of the Executive Committee. The Committee also advises Ofcom on the terms and conditions of the part-time members of the Content Board, the Consumer Panel, the Advisory Committee for Older and Disabled Persons and the four Advisory Committees for the Nations and Regions.

The Committee oversees the process for determining the terms and conditions of all other Ofcom colleagues. The Committee also oversees and decides upon issues relating to the pension arrangements established by Ofcom for all Ofcom colleagues.

The Remuneration Committee meets as and when required. During the period the Committee met six times. The Chairman of the Remuneration Committee reports the outcome of the Remuneration Committee meetings to the Board.

The remuneration of Non-Executive Members of the Ofcom Board is determined by the Secretaries of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and for Culture, Media and Sport and is set out in detail in Note 2 to the Remuneration Report. Should it be necessary for Ofcom to consider any aspect of Non-Executive Member remuneration a Non-Executive Member Remuneration Committee has been established consisting of the Chief Executive, the HR Director and the Corporation Secretary which will meet and report directly to the Secretaries of State as appropriate. Consequently, no Board Member is involved in the setting of his or her own remuneration.

The Remuneration Report on pages 65 to 71 sets out Ofcom’s application of the relevant principles of the Combined Code.

The Nominations Committee

The Nominations Committee comprises four Non-Executive Members of the Ofcom Board. It was established in 2007 and its members are:

The Committee works with the Departments for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and for Culture Media and Sport on the process for selecting Non-Executive Members for the Ofcom Board and makes recommendations to all the Non-Executive Members of the Ofcom Board on Executive Member appointments. The Committee meets as and when required.

The Fairness Committee and Content Sanctions Committee

Both these committees are made up of members drawn from the Content Board. On occasions, the Content Sanctions Committee invites additional members from the Ofcom Board.

Both Committees have a permanent Chair who, during the period, was Kath Worrall for the Fairness Committee and Philip Graf for the Content Sanctions Committee.

The Committees meet as and when required and details of their activities can be found on pages 42 and 43.

Radio Licensing Committee

The Radio Licensing Committee has delegated authority from the Ofcom Board to discharge Ofcom’s functions in relation to radio (sound) broadcasting licensing. The Committee’s responsibilities include decisions on the award of new and readvertised radio licences , and on licence variations and revocations.

Philip Graf chairs this committee. Its membership consists of two permanent Non-Executive Members of the Content Board: Joyce Taylor and Pam Giddy, and four Ofcom colleagues. It meets monthly and details of its activities can be found on pages 23 and 24.

Community Radio Fund Panel

Section 359 of the Communications Act 2003 makes it possible for a fund for community radio operators to be set up, and for Ofcom to administer it and “make such grants as they consider appropriate” to community radio licensees. The Panel meets as required to examine applications and make awards from the Fund. It is independent of the Ofcom Radio Licensing Committee (RLC) which awards community radio licences.

The Panel has three Non-Executive members: Kevin Carey (Chair), Richard Hilton and Thomas Prag.



Back to top Back to top

 Accessibility tools


Further information

Help

Keep up-to-date