Ofcom Board

Historically, the regulatory regimes for broadcasting, telecommunications and spectrum management have encompassed a broad range of governance models.

These have included oversight by Government-appointed Commission, by Director-General and by Government Agency.

Ofcom's governance structure is different. It is based upon a model which is familiar to the commercial sector but which marks a departure from the past.

Ofcom has a Board with a Chairman and both executive and non-executive members. The Executive runs the organisation and answers to the Board, while the work of both Board and Executive is informed by the contribution of a number of advisory bodies.

The Ofcom Board provides strategic direction for Ofcom. It is the main statutory instrument of regulation with a fundamental role in the effective implementation of the Communications Act 2003.

The Board is chaired by Patricia Hodgson. Its membership is published. There are up to nine additional members, including the Chief Executive of Ofcom and up to three members of the Executive.

The Ofcom Board meets at least once a month (with the exception of August). Agendas and notes of meetings are published regularly on the Ofcom website.

The Board has a central governance function, with oversight over the fulfilment of Ofcom's general duties and specific statutory responsibilities as well as its adherence to the ethos of a public service organisation. The Board also has oversight of Ofcom's overall funding and expenditure.

The Board acts on a collective basis. As the body charged with governing Ofcom's strategic direction, the Board has agreed that its members will abide by the following principles:

1. The Board will operate on the principles of collective responsibility, support and respect.
2. Board members should have access to all the information necessary to ensure vigorous debate and effective decision-making.
3. In all situations, all Board members will be deemed to have agreed with all decisions.
4. External pressure will not alter Board processes except for potential timelines.
5. Board members' behaviour in response to decisions is required to be the same inside and outside Ofcom.
6. Minority views will not be made public internally or externally.
7. Nominated Board members (other than those who disagreed with a decision) may be required to explain and articulate specific decisions.
8. If a Board member resigns he or she may state the basis for the disagreement, but may not publicly rehearse the arguments of other Board members.

The Board provides strategic direction for the performance of Ofcom’s regulatory functions by reference to its statutory duties and has overall responsibility for financial and operational matters.

The Board may take any decision it considers it is appropriate to be taken by the Board notwithstanding the delegations approved by the Board through the Delegations Framework. The delegations in the delegations framework are also subject to the reservation of the following matters to the Board:

a) approval of Ofcom's annual budget, overall financial policy and Financial Authorities Framework;

b) approval of Ofcom's annual report and accounts;

c) approval of any contract value in excess of £5,000,000;

d) approval of Ofcom's annual plan, long term objectives and overall strategic policy framework;

e) undertaking a formal regular review of the Board’s own performance and that of Board committees;

f) approval of terms of reference of Board committees;

g) approval of appointments and remuneration of Non-Executive members to Board committees;

h) Approval of appointments of non-executive members of the Channel Four Board (subject to the formal approval of the Secretary of State) and decisions as to the number of members of the Channel Four Board; and

i) Decisions concerning appointments to MG Alba (the Gaelic Media Service)

Approved by the Ofcom Board, 24 May 2016

The Board is scheduled to meet on the following dates. (Meetings to be held at Ofcom's offices in London unless otherwise indicated.)

2017

17 January 2017

22 February 2017

9 March 2017

14 March 2017

11 April 2017

16 May 2017

5 June 2017

13 June 2017

18 July 2017

19 September 2017

17 October 2017

14 November 2017

13 December 2017

Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 13 June 2017 PDF, 76.9 KB

06|05|17

Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 5 June 2017 PDF, 13.7 KB

31|05|17

Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 16 May 2017 PDF, 76.9 KB

15|05|17

Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 11 April 2017 PDF, 74.6 KB

05|04|17

Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 14 March 2017 PDF, 11.7 KB

08|03|17

Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 9 March 2017 PDF, 15.9 KB

09|03|17

Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 22 February 2017 PDF, 67.9 KB

14|02|17

Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 13 December 2016 PDF, 13.5 KB

07|12|16

Meeting of the Ofcom Board, to be held on 15 November 2016 PDF, 11.3 KB

10|11|16

Meeting of the Ofcom Board, to be held on 18 October 2016 PDF, 11.4 KB

11|10|16

Meeting of the Ofcom Board, to be held on 20 September 2016 PDF, 11.4 KB

15|09|16

Meeting of the Ofcom Board, to be held on 21 July 2016 PDF, 26.7 KB

20|07|16

Meeting of the Ofcom Board, to be held on 19 July 2016 PDF, 13.3 KB

12|07|16

Minutes of the Ofcom Board, to be held on 21 June 2016 PDF, 26.7 KB

15|06|16

Minutes of the Ofcom Board, to be held on 24 May 2016 PDF, 29.2 KB

18|05|16

Meeting of the Ofcom Board, to be held on 19 April 2016 PDF, 13.1 KB

13|04|16

Meeting of the Ofcom Board, to be held on 15 March 2016 PDF, 13.7 KB

09|03|16

Meeting of the Ofcom Board, to be held on 26 February 2016 PDF, 9.1 KB

09|03|16

Meeting of the Ofcom Board, to be held on 16 February 2016 PDF, 10.1 KB

10|02|16

Meeting of the Ofcom Board, to be held on 19 January 2016 PDF, 13.0 KB

12|01|16

For all other past agendas, please visit the National Archive.

Note of the 240th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, held on 16 May 2017 PDF, 165.4 KB

30|05|17

Note of the 239th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, held on 11 April 2017 PDF, 46.2 KB

17|05|17

Note of the 238th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, held on 14 March 2017 PDF, 165.1 KB

12|02|17

Note of the 237th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, held on 9 March 2017 PDF, 96.8 KB

12|02|17

Note of the 236th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, held on 22 February 2017    PDF, 172.1 KB

23|02|17

Note of the 235th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, held on 17 January 2017   PDF, 159.8 KB

23|02|17

Note of the 234th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, held on 13 December 2016   PDF, 31.2 KB

17|01|17

Minutes of the 233rd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, held on 15 November 2016 PDF, 30.9 KB

20|06|17

Minutes of the 232nd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, held on 18 October 2016 PDF, 30.6 KB

20|06|17

Minutes of the 231st Meeting of the Ofcom Board, held on 20 September 2016 PDF, 148.7 KB

18|10|16

Minutes of the 230th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, held on 21 July 2016 PDF, 125.4 KB

07|02|17

Minutes of the 229th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, held on 19 July 2016 PDF, 157.1 KB

07|02|17

Minutes of the 228th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, held on 21 June 2016 PDF, 157.0 KB

20|07|16

Minutes of the 227th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 24 May 2016 PDF, 160.9 KB

21|06|16

Minutes of the 226th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 19 April 2016 PDF, 20.3 KB

17|10|16

Minutes of the 225th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 15 March 2016 PDF, 24.0 KB

17|10|16

Minutes of the 224th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 26 February 2016 (by telephone) PDF, 7.7 KB

17|10|16

Minutes of the 223rd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 16 February 2016 PDF, 28.9 KB

16|03|16

Minutes of the 222nd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 19 January 2016 PDF, 34.9 KB

17|02|16

Minutes of the 221st Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 15 December 2015

19|01|15

Minutes of the 220th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 17 November 2015

17|12|15

Minutes of the 219th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 20 October 2015

17|11|15

Minutes of the 218th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 6 October 2015

20|10|15

Minutes of the 217th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, Edinburgh, 15 September 2015

20|10|15

Minutes of the 216th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 14 July 2015

16|09|15

Minutes of the 215th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 16 June 2015

15|07|15

Minutes of the 214th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 19 May 2015

17|06|15

Minutes of the 213th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 21 April 2015

19|05|15

Minutes of the 212th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 17 March 2015

22|04|15

Minutes of the 211th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 17 February 2015

18|03|15

Minutes of the 210th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 27 January 2015

18|02|15

Minutes of the 209th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 16 December 2011

28|01|15

Minutes of the 208th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 18 November 2014

16|12|14

Minutes of the 207th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, 14 October 2014

19|11|14

Minutes of the 206th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 16 September 2014

15|10|14

Minutes of the 205th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 15 July 2014

17|09|14

Minutes of the 204th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 17 June 2014

16|07|14

Minutes of the 203rd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 20 May 2014

16|07|14

Minutes of the 202nd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 29 April 2014

21|05|14

Minutes of the 201st Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 18 March 2014

01|05|14

Minutes of the 200th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 18 February 2014

19|03|14

Minutes of the 199th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 21 January 2014

19|01|14

Minutes of the 198th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 17 December 2013

22|01|14

Minutes of the 197th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 19 November 2013

18|12|13

Minutes of the 196th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 15 October 2013

20|10|13

Minutes of the 195th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 17 September 2013

15|10|13

Minutes of the 194th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 16 July 2013

25|09|13

Minutes of the 193rd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 18 June 2013

17|06|13

Minutes of the 192nd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 14 May 2013

19|06|13

Minutes of the 191st Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 16 April 2013

15|05|13

Minutes of the 190th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 19 March 2013

16|04|13

Minutes of the 189th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 26 February 2013

20|03|13

Minutes of the 188th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 22 January 2013

27|02|13

Minutes of the 187th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 11 December 2012

12|12|12

Minutes of the 186th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 13 November 2012

12|12|12

Minutes of the 185th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 16 October 2012

31|10|12

Minutes of the 184th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 25 September 2012

13|11|12

Minutes of the 183rd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 10 September 2012

26|09|12

Minutes of the 182nd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 17 July 2012

12|09|12

Minutes of the 181st Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 19 June 2012

11|07|12

Minutes of the 180th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 15 May 2012

19|06|12

Minutes of the 179th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 17 April 2012

17|05|12

Minutes of the 178th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 13 March 2012

18|03|12

Minutes of the 177th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 21 February 2012

14|03|12

Minutes of the 176th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 24 January 2012

22|02|12

Minutes of the 175th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 13 December 2011

27|01|11

Minutes of the 174th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 6 December 2011

04|01|12

Minutes of the 173rd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 22 November 2011

14|12|11

Minutes of the 172nd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 4 October 2011

24|11|11

Minutes of the 171st Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 21 September 2011

01|11|11

Minutes of the 170th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 13 September 2011

14|03|12

Minutes of the 169th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 12 July 2011

15|09|11

Minutes of the 168th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, held on 14 June 2011, London

13|07|11

Minutes of the 167th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 10 May 2011

15|06|11

Minutes of the 166th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 5 April 2011

09|11|11

Minutes of the 165th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 15 March 2011

09|11|11

Minutes of the 164th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 15 February 2011

09|11|11

Minutes of the 163rd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 8 February 2011

09|11|11

Minutes of the 162nd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 18 January 2011

09|11|11

Minutes of the 161st Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 20 December 2010

09|11|11

Minutes of the 160th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 7 December 2010

09|11|11

Minutes of the 159th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 9 November 2010

15|11|10

Minutes of the 158th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 12 October 2010

16|11|10

Minutes of the 157th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 5 October 2010

08|11|10

Minutes of the 156th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 21 September 2010

08|03|10

Minutes of the 155th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 6 July 2010

14|09|10

Minutes of the 154th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 15 June 2010

05|07|10

Minutes of the 153rd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 8 June 2010

15|06|10

Minutes of the 152nd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 11 May 2010

09|06|10

Minutes of the 151st Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 20 April 2010

11|05|10

Minutes of the 150th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 9 March 2010

20|04|10

Minutes of the 148th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 19 January 2010

10|02|10

Minutes of the 147th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 12 January 2010

20|01|10

Minutes of the 145th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 1 December 2009

09|12|09

Minutes of the 144th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 3 November 2009

02|12|09

Minutes of the 142nd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 15 September 2009

14|10|09

Minutes of the 141st Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 7 June 2009

16|08|09

Minutes of the 140th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 9 June 2009

07|07|09

Minutes of the 139th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 2 June 2009

10|06|09

Minutes of the 138th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, Glasgow, 12 May 2009

03|06|09

Minutes of the 137th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 20 April 2009

12|05|09

Minutes of the 136th meeting of the Ofcom Board, Cardiff, 10 March 2009

11|03|09

Minutes of the 135th meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 3 March 2009

12|03|09

Minutes of the 134th Meeting of the Ofcom board, London, 24 February 2009

04|03|09

Minutes of the 133rd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 10 February 2009

12|03|09

Minutes of the 132nd Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 13 January 2009

25|02|09

Minutes of the 131st Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 2 December 2008

05|01|09

Minutes of the 130th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, Baldock Radio Monitoring Station, 4 November 2008

03|12|08

Minutes of the 129th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 21 October 2008

03|11|08

Minutes of the 128th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 30 September 2008

04|10|08

Minutes of the 127th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 9 September 2008

03|10|08

Minutes of the 126th Meeting of the Ofcom Board, London, 15 July 2008

12|09|08

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport wishes to make an appointment to the Ofcom Board to replace a key member who has completed her term of office.

Non-Executive Director vacancy description PDF, 752.9 KB

Apply via the Centre for Public Appointmemts

Patricia Hodgson was appointed Chairman of Ofcom for a 3 year term from April 2014.  In July 2016 her term was extended by a year to run to 31 March 2018.  She was appointed as a Member of the Ofcom Board in July 2011 and became Deputy Chairman in January 2012.  She is Chairman of Ofcom's Nominations Committee and a member of Ofcom's Remuneration Committee and Risk and Audit Committee.

Having begun her career as a producer and journalist, she was Director of Policy and Planning at the BBC from 1993 to 2000, where she was responsible for Charter and licence renegotiations and for project managing the BBC's switch to digital. From 2000 to the end of 2003 she was Chief Executive of the Independent Television Commission.

She was a member of the independent cross party Commission established by Government between July 2015 and March 2016 to review the Freedom of Information Act 2000. She was Chair of the School Teachers' Review Body (2012-2014), Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge (2006-August 2012), a non-executive director of The Competition Commission (2004-end of 2011) and a Member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (2005-Sept 2011). She also chaired the Higher Education Regulation Review Group (2004-2006). Patricia was a Member of the Wellcome Trust from 2004-2008 and of the Committee for Standards in Public Life for the same period. She has also served as a non-executive director of GCap plc, as a Member of the Statistics Commission and as a Member of the Monopolies & Mergers Commission. She was a Member of the BBC Trust from its inception until June 2011.

Baroness Noakes was appointed to the Ofcom Board on 1 June 2014 for a four year term and was also appointed as its Deputy Chairman. She chairs Ofcom's Remuneration Committee and Risk and Audit Committee and is a member of the Nominations Committee.

Sheila Noakes qualified as a chartered accountant and spent 30 years until 2000 at KPMG. During that period she was seconded to the Treasury and to the Department of Health, where she was the Director of Finance on the NHS Management Board. She headed KPMG's European and international government practices.

She was President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 1999/2000. She was awarded a DBE in 1996.

In 2000 Sheila was appointed to the House of Lords as a life peer and she takes the Conservative whip. Between 2001 and 2010 she was a member of the Opposition front bench and was the Lords shadow Treasury minister for most of that time. She also covered health and work and pensions. She is now a backbench peer and sits on the House of Lords EU Internal Market Committee.

She has been a non-executive board member of a number of organisations. From 1994 to 2001 she was a member of the Court of the Bank of England and she chaired its non-executive committee. In the commercial world, she has been a non-executive director of Hanson plc, ICI plc, Severn Trent plc, SThree plc and of the Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company. She is currently a non-executive director of Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, where she chairs its Board Risk Committee.

Sharon White took over as Chief Executive of Ofcom in March 2015.

Before joining Ofcom Sharon had a long career in the civil service.

She was second Permanent Secretary at the Treasury, responsible for overseeing the public finances.

Before that she held Board level positions at the Ministry of Justice and the Department for International Development.

She has worked as a civil service adviser at the Prime Minister's Policy Unit and in Washington DC as a senior economist at the World Bank.

Sharon is a trained economist and studied at Cambridge University and  University College London.

Dame Lynne Brindley was appointed to the Ofcom Board on 1 September 2011. Lynne is the Master of Pembroke College Oxford, a position she took up in 2013.

Before that she was the CEO of the British Library (from 2000 - 2012), where she led a major strategic development and modernisation programme to ensure that the British Library remains relevant, innovative and accessible in the 21st century.

She came to the BL from the University of Leeds where she was Pro-Vice-Chancellor. Previously she was a senior consultant in IS/IT strategy with KPMG and has held leadership positions in IT and knowledge management at Aston University and at the London School of Economics.

Lynne is a member of the Council of City University and is on the Court of the Goldsmiths' Company and chairs the Goldsmiths' Centre charity.  She was a council member of the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) (from 2009 - 2014), chaired the national Online Learning Taskforce set up by HEFCE and was a member of the UK's Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property (SABIP).

Lynne Brindley is Chairman of Ofcom's Nations Committee, a member of the Content Board, and sits on the Remuneration Committee and the Nominations Committee.

Steve Unger was appointed to the Ofcom Board in April 2015. He is Ofcom's Group Director, Strategy, International, Technology and Economists. He has been with Ofcom since its inception, and has held a variety of senior roles. He was responsible for Ofcom’s strategic review of digital communication.

Before joining Ofcom, Steve worked in industry - for two technology startups, both of whom designed and operated their own communications networks, and as a consultant advising a variety of other companies on the commercial application of new wireless technologies. He has a Physics MA and a PhD in Astrophysics.

Graham Mather was appointed to the Ofcom Board with effect from 1 June 2014. He is a member of Ofcom's Nations Committee, Content board, Nominations Committee, Remuneration Committee and Risk and Audit Committee.

Graham Mather was a member of Ofcom's Consumer Panel from 2004 to 2008. He served as a member of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission and, between 2000 and 2012, was also member of the Competition Appeal Tribunal, the body that deals with appeals from the UK regulators. Graham is currently the President of the European Policy Forum and Chairman of its Regulatory Best Practice Group. Graham is a member of the Board of the Office of Rail and Road.

Jonathan Oxley joined Ofcom as Group Director, Competition in November 2014 and was appointed to the Ofcom Board in January 2015.

Prior to joining Ofcom, Jonathan was a Partner in PwC's Strategy and Economics practice, specialising in telecoms, media and technology.

After graduating from the University of the West of England, Jonathan joined BT as a graduate trainee manager, where he stayed for eight years before moving to Metropolitan Fibre Systems (Verizon). He joined PwC in 1995, becoming Partner in 2006, where he advised a number of global telecoms companies.

Ben has 30 years' experience in running major telecoms, technology and media companies in executive and non-executive roles. He is currently a General Partner at investment fund Keen Venture Partners and holds various Board positions, including Akamai in the US and mobile operator Bharti Airtel in India.

Ben is a former Chief Executive of BT, KPN in the Netherlands and Alcatel Lucent, and has served as a Chairman of Endemol.

Nick Pollard was appointed to the Content Board in April 2016. He was appointed as an Ofcom Board Member and as Chairman of the Content Board with effect from 14 November 2016. Nick Pollard has had a long career as a journalist and broadcasting executive. He started his career as a local paper reporter on Merseyside and spent nearly ten years in newspapers and radio before joining BBC Television News in 1977. He subsequently became Executive Producer of News at Ten during more than a decade at ITN and spent ten years as Head of Sky News during which it won numerous awards for its coverage of major news events including the death of Princess Diana, the September 11th attacks in 2001, the Iraq War and the London bombings. He recently retired from the post of Chief Executive of SSVC, the organisation that runs the British Forces Broadcasting Service.

Nick led the independent inquiry into the BBC's handling of the Newsnight-Jimmy Savile story in 2012. He is a former chairman of the Royal Television Society's Journalism Awards and a recipient of the RTS's Lifetime Achievement Award for Television Journalism.

Nick is a member of the Nominations Committee and Remuneration Committee.