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 Lord Burns. 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.

22 September 2020

21 October 2020

18 November 2020

9 December 2020

10 February 2021

17 March 2021

28 April 2021

26 May 2021

23 June 2021

21 July 2021

15 September 2021

20 October 2021

17 November 2021

15 December 2021

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 22 September 2020 (PDF, 104.0 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 15 July 2020 (PDF, 111.5 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 17 June 2020 (PDF, 109.5 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 12 May 2020 (PDF, 108.6 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 22 April 2020 (PDF, 108.7 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 18 March 2020 (PDF, 82.0 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 12 February 2020 (PDF, 80.8 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 18 December 2019 (PDF, 81.4 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 20 November 2019 (PDF, 65.6 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 17 October 2019 (PDF, 67.1 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 18 September 2019 (PDF, 70.8 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 17 July 2019 (PDF, 73.1 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 18 June 2019 (PDF, 75.0 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 22 May 2019 (PDF, 70.1 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 10 April 2019 (PDF, 69.9 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 20 March 2019 (PDF, 72.3 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 6 February 2019 (PDF, 72.2 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 11 December 2018 (PDF, 58.5 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 13 November 2018 (PDF, 63.9 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 2 October 2018 (PDF, 10.0 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 18 September 2018 (PDF, 10.5 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 17 July 2018 (PDF, 10.5 KB)

Agenda for the Meeting of the Ofcom Board to be held 19 June 2018 (PDF, 63.4 KB)

It is our policy to keep board and committee minutes on our site for two years only. Older minutes can be accessed via the National Archives.

Note of the 273rd Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 17 June 2020 (PDF, 184.6 KB)

Note of the 272nd Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 12 May 2020 (PDF, 172.1 KB)

Note of the 271st Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 22 April 2020 (PDF, 169.5 KB)

Minutes of the 270th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 18 March 2020 (PDF, 201.8 KB)

Minutes of the 269th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 12 February 2020 (PDF, 205.6 KB)

Minutes of the 268th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 18 December 2019 (PDF, 211.0 KB)

Minutes of the 267th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 20 November 2019 (PDF, 240.5 KB)

Minutes of the 266th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 17 October 2019 (PDF, 254.6 KB)

Minutes of the 265th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 18 September 2019 (PDF, 216.8 KB)

Minutes of the 264th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 17 July 2019 (PDF, 202.9 KB)

Minutes of the 263rd Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 18 June 2019 (PDF, 221.2 KB)

Minutes of the 262nd Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 22 May 2019 (PDF, 174.9 KB)

Minutes of the 261st Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 10 April 2019 (PDF, 230.6 KB)

Minutes of the 260th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 20 March 2019 (PDF, 215.1 KB)

Minutes of the 259th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 6 February 2019 (PDF, 171.3 KB)

Minutes of the 258th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 11 December 2018 (PDF, 176.8 KB)

Minutes of the 257th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 13 November 2018 (PDF, 178.5 KB)

Minutes of the 256th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 2 October 2018 (PDF, 129.7 KB)

Minutes of the 255th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 18 September 2018 (PDF, 159.5 KB)

Minutes of the 254th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 17 July 2018 (PDF, 168.7 KB)

Minutes of the 253rd Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 19 June 2018 (PDF, 157.6 KB)

Minutes of the 252nd Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 22 May 2018 (PDF, 163.7 KB)

Minutes of the 251st Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 17 April 2018 (PDF, 173.8 KB)

Minutes of the 250th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 20 March 2018 (PDF, 193.7 KB)

Minutes of the 249th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 27 February 2018 (PDF, 210.5 KB)

Minutes of the 248th Meeting of the Ofcom Board – 16 January 2018 (PDF, 146.8 KB)

It is our policy to keep board and committee minutes on our site for two years only. Older minutes can be accessed via the National Archives.

Lord Burns is a Senior Adviser to Banco Santander SA, Chairman of the Young Classical Artists Trust and Vice Chairman of the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts Ltd. In addition, Lord Burns is Chairman of the Welsh Government’s South East Wales Transport Commission, Chairman of the Mid Wales Music Trust and Vice President of the Royal Academy of Music. He is a former Chief Economic Advisor and Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury, Chairman of Santander UK plc, Chairman of Channel Four Television, Chairman of Marks and Spencer plc and Chairman of Welsh Water and was an Independent Adviser to the Secretary of State on the BBC Charter Review.

Terry joined the Board on 1 January 2018. His appointment runs until 31 December 2021.

Melanie was appointed Chief Executive in March 2020. Before joining Ofcom, Dame Melanie was the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. She has held senior roles across the Civil Service, working in partnership across the public and private sectors. She started her career as an economist and spent 15 years at the Treasury, including as Europe Director. She was Director General of the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat at the Cabinet Office between 2011 and 2015. She has held a number of non-executive roles including with the consumer body Which? and is a trustee of the Patchwork Foundation, which promotes the participation of underrepresented young people in democracy.

Kevin Bakhurst joined Ofcom in October 2016 as Group Director for Broadcasting and Online Content, overseeing our broadcast and online regulation and policy. He was appointed to the Ofcom Board in March 2020 and is also a member of Ofcom’s Content Board.

Prior to joining Ofcom, Kevin was Managing Director, News and Current Affairs, Deputy Director General, and then Acting Director General with Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTÉ.

After graduating from Cambridge University, Kevin worked at Price Waterhouse before joining the BBC as a researcher in 1989. He went on to edit the Ten O’Clock News, becoming Deputy Head of the BBC Newsroom and Controller of the BBC News channel and BBC News at One. During his time editing BBC news bulletins, the programmes won awards from organisations including BAFTA and the Royal Television Society.

Outside work, Kevin was a Magistrate from 2000 until 2006.

Maggie is Chair of the Racecourse Association and a Director of the British Horseracing Authority. She has extensive experience as a nonexecutive director on the boards of 18 companies, public, private and not-for-profit. These include chairing news and programme provider ITN, multiplex operator SDN, and the British Board of Film Classification, as well as being a director on the boards of Channel 5 Television, RDF Media plc, Satellite Information Services, armed forces broadcaster BFBS, and British Waterways. Maggie’s executive career was in investment banking, television production, broadcasting and retail.

Maggie joined the Board on 30 September 2018. Her appointment runs until 29 September 2022.

Graham 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 a member of the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Graham is currently the President of the European Policy Forum and Chairman of its Regulatory Best Practice Group. He is a member of the Board of the Office of Rail and Road and is the Director of both the Greenham Trust and the Pelican Cancer Foundation.

Graham joined the Board on 1 June 2014. His appointment runs until 31 May 2022.

Ben is currently a General Partner at investment fund Keen Venture Partners and holds various Board positions, including at Akamai in the US and Renewi Ltd, a major player in the circular economy in the BeNeLux and the UK. He is a former Chief Executive of BT, KPN in the Netherlands, and Alcatel Lucent. He has also served as a Chairman of Endemol, and as a Board Member of AkzoNobel in the Netherlands and of the mobile operator Bharti Airtel in India.

Ben joined the Board on 1 January 2016. His appointment runs until 31 December 2023.

Tim was a BBC producer, editor and senior manager and Head of Broadcasting Policy in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2002, responsible for the Communications Act of 2003 and the creation of Ofcom. He joined Ofcom at its inception and left to found Perspective Associates, advising on media policy and regulation. He has been a special advisor to the House of Lords Communications Committee and is the chair of an expert panel advising the Council of Europe. Tim is the chairman of the Intellectual Property Office Steering Board and is a founding partner in Communications Chambers.

Tim joined the Board on 2 October 2017. His appointment runs until 1 October 2021.

Bob is the current chairman of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and of CENSIS. He also chairs the Commission for Communications Regulation’s Independent Oversight Body, which will oversee the implementation and operation of an enhanced Regulatory Governance Model in Ireland by Eir. Bob is a trustee of the Mackintosh Campus Renewal Appeal for Glasgow School of Art and is an advisor to a number of small technology businesses, including Kube Networks and Cryptic. In addition to his role as the Board Member for Scotland, Bob ensures appropriate attention and focus is given to those special characteristics and challenges unique to Northern Ireland pending the appointment of a Board Member for Northern Ireland.

Bob joined the Board on 1 February 2018. His appointment runs until 31 December 2022.

Angela is currently Chair of International House Trust, a member of Council of King’s College London, and a trustee of York Museums Trust. She is a Senior Independent Panel Member for Public Appointments. She was a former Managing Director of Morgan Stanley where she headed its global technology research team. She was a member of the Working Group of the United Nations Global Compact for corporate social responsibility issues in investment, a trustee of the Heritage Lottery Fund and a member of the Museums, Archives and Libraries Council.

Angela joined the Board on 30 September 2018. Her appointment runs until 29 September 2022.

David is currently a non-executive director of Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and is Chair of the Information Governance Committee. David is also Non-Executive Director of the Welsh Revenue Authority and is a member of the Board of Qualifications Wales. In addition, he owns Public Services Digital.

David joined the Board on 8 April 2019. His appointment runs until 07 April 2023.