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19|03|04

Ofcom appoints Advisory Committee for England

Ofcom today announced the appointment of nine members to its Advisory Committee for England.

The Committee has been established to provide advice to Ofcom (and other committees established by Ofcom) about the interests and opinions of people living in England on communications matters. The Committee will meet for the first time in London on 31 March 2004.

As set out in section 20 of the Communications Act 2003, similar committees have been established for Wales and Scotland with the Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland to be announced shortly.

The Advisory Committee for England, which will meet quarterly, will report directly to the Ofcom Board and will publish its own annual report. The Ofcom Content Board and Consumer Panel Members for England (Jonathan Edwards, broadcaster and former athlete, and Roger Darlington, Chair of the Internet Watch Foundation) will attend meetings of the Committee.

The members of the Advisory Committee for England are:

Suzy Brain England, 47, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, has a portfolio of directorships after a career of managing change in the private, public and voluntary sector. She is Chair of a West Yorkshire organisation helping teenagers into education, training or work. A Chartered Director, and former Midlands Business Woman of the Year, she also lectures on corporate governance.

Gita Conn JP, 66, from Manchester, worked as a television producer and director on such programmes as Brass Tacks and The Travel Show. She is a former a non-executive director on the Central Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust, a member of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel and a member of the Greater Manchester Board of the National Probation Service.

Sue Farrington, 47, from London is a Director of CSV Media and responsible for the division that looks after Social Action Broadcasting and Media Training. She previously worked as Head of Radio at the Central Office of Information and was a regional manager for CSV Media working closely with the BBC and other broadcasters. She has a background in marketing, lecturing and radio journalism.

John Hooper CBE, 63, from Reigate, Surrey, is a businessman with extensive experience of marketing communications and the advertising industry. He was Director-General of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers from 1995-2000. He spent three years as Chairman of the Radio Advertising Bureau and continues as non-executive chairman of three marketing communications firms. He was appointed a CBE in 1997 for services to advertising.

Derek Inman, 55, from Birmingham, is the former head of BT's UK Central region.
He is currently a board member of a number of organisations including Independent Chair of Birmingham and Solihull Learning Exchange, Vice Chair Birmingham-Forward and board member Solihull Chamber of Commerce and the Birmingham Hippodrome Trust. He is also a Major in the Royal Logistics Corps of the Territorial Army.

Don Jayasuriya, 50, from London is an independent consultant and CEO of a start-up satellite company. He has extensive experience in telecoms and spectrum matters and has worked in the private sector and in the Radiocommunications Agency. A former director of regulatory affairs with ICO Global Communications, he is involved in local community matters in London and is a Trustee of the Merton Volunteer Bureau.

Jessica Mann, 66, from Cornwall is Chair of OFWAT's South West Customer Services Committee and a writer and a journalist. Her publications include 20 crime novels. As a member of local, regional and national committees, ranging from Health Authorities to a Regional Arts Board, she has been involved in the provision and oversight of public services.

Andrew Norton, 38, from Northwich, Cheshire is Head of ICT and Knowledge Management at Cheshire Fire Service and a Vice- President of the British Association of Public Safety Communications Officers. He is closely involved with the Fire Service's modernisation agenda including electronic services delivery and regional control rooms. His previous experience includes the installation of digital exchanges at BT.

Alan Wright, 56, from Hartlepool runs a media strategy consultancy after 30 years as a BBC presenter. He recently worked as strategic adviser on changes in the Fire Service on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Alan is heavily involved in regional life, being Honorary President of the Pensioners' Forum, and Chair of Leisure and Culture on the Hartlepool Partnership Board.

The Committee will be chaired initially by Simon Crine, Ofcom's Director for England.

Simon Crine said:

"The committee has the experience and expertise to advise effectively across the range of Ofcom's responsibilities.

"It will enable England and the English regions to have their say on a range of broadcasting, telecoms and wireless communications matters as well as having the opportunity to influence regulatory policies."

Ofcom will be advertising for further applications in the coming months and will encourage applications from the regions and communities of England not yet reflected in the committee's membership.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Ofcom is the independent regulator for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.

Our duties include:

• The promotion of choice, quality and value in electronic communications services, where appropriate by encouraging competition between the providers of those services
• Ensuring the most efficient use of the radiocommunications spectrum - the airwaves used for the transmission of all non-military wireless communications services
• Ensuring a wide range of electronic communications services, including broadband, are available across the UK
• Ensuring a wide range of TV and radio programmes of high quality and wide appeal
• Maintaining plurality in the media by ensuring a sufficiently broad range of ownership
• The protection of audiences against offensive or harmful material, unfairness or the infringement of privacy on TV and radio

For further details please visit www.ofcom.org.uk.

Contact

Simon Crine, Ofcom Director, England
Simon.crine@ofcom.org.uk
Tel: 02o7 981 2619

Ofcom Media Office
mediaoffice@ofcom.org.uk
(+44) (0)20 7981 3033

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