Patten v. Thompson

[Guest]

Does anyone know whether the PAC meeting is streamed live on the web or on Freeview?

I've dipped into Mark Thompson's written evidence and from what I can see it seems pretty unequivocal that the Trust were fully appraised of Byford's remuneration et al since there would appear to be proof in the form of emails (although the phrase 'suddenly coming to light' does leave me a little circumspect).

On this premise, I think that Patten's position (and that of the rest of the Trust) is untenable but I very much doubt that Patten will resign as the man is so full of his own puffed-up self-importance that it won't even enter his head.

Interesting to see some commentators suggesting that the BBC Trust should be replaced by Ofcom...which is about as daft a suggestion as I have seen in a very long time. There is nothing wrong with the concept of the BBC Trust. Just that all of them should go and be replaced by competent people. Not that hard to do given the cv's of the Trust.

[teamsaint]

Good post RM.

apparently , there is a major opinion poll being run , (In America IIRC) as to whether turkeys prefer Christmas or Thanksgiving.

[Resurrection Man]

Good post RM.

apparently , there is a major opinion poll being run , (In America IIRC) as to whether turkeys prefer Christmas or Thanksgiving.

I don't understand the relevance of your last sentence, ts.

[french frank]

The various Trustees seem to be running away saying either "I wasn't there at the time' or 'Nobody asked me to approve it' or 'They told us it was within the contractual terms (and we believed them because we forgot we were the ones who were finally responsible for keeping the executive accountable).'

Patten points out he wasn't chairman when Byford's £1m payoff was approved. True. But Thompson says he was fully briefed shortly after he arrived.

Regardless of the truth and the personalities involved, I'd put my money on the current BBC people winning. In any case, the individual who told the PAC she had no knowledge of a certain 'letter' and then discovered they meant the email that she helped to draft has already decided to step down. She will, the press release clarified, be getting no severance pay and will work out her notice. I'd pay her at least half a million if it wasn't my money.

[teamsaint]

I don't understand the relevance of your last sentence, ts.

a sunday morning"Throw the arms in the air in mild despair" thing, RM.

I don't know if despair can be mild though.
If you are running a campaign, I wish you well. The turkeys are not for turning.
I assume turkeys can turn , if confronted with a man in a Bernard Matthews mask.

[Resurrection Man]

......
If you are running a campaign, I wish you well. ....

What? RM for BBC Trust Chairman ? I'd sort out that R3 chap for starters...and ban tweets and stuff and all that nonsense...and play whole pieces not snippets...and ban Your Call. Here's my campaign slogan

Breakfast ?

" Not

Banal
Rubbish
Egregious
And
Kitsch
Farcical
And
Silly
Tripe

but

Brilliant
Reasoned
Educational
And
Keeping
Frank
Artistic
Symphonic
Testament"

[VodkaDilc]

Does anyone know whether the PAC meeting is streamed live on the web or on Freeview?
.

I think we can rely on Sky News covering it quite extensively - for obvious reasons.

[Nick Armstrong]

I'd sort out that R3 chap for starters...

Kicking myself, could have made your job much easier, we were queueing next to him in t'Spitfire Bar before one of the Proms, and had words - but just small talk, getting the beer in was more pressing at that moment than dealing with him. I have cornered him before, at the Wigmore, some years ago shortly after he arrived and ****** around with the Saturday morning schedule - 'Building a Library' was restored to its 9.30am, 45/50 minute slot shortly afterwards, per my request ;-)

[french frank]

Key phrase from The Guardian:

"But it is really the competence of the BBC itself, the most important cultural organisation in Britain, that will be in the dock."

Absolutely. The Trust was a government creation to replace the old Board of Governors, post Hutton: "The real victim on Monday could be the system of supervision set up in 2007 to replace the BBC governors. Power was divided between the trust and an executive board, chaired by the director-general."

I hope it is a victim. I don't believe they have the professional competence to do what they're required to do; and they have no competent scrutiny mechanism to query what they're told by the executive/managers. They are clearly responsible (as they constantly repeat) for ensuring that licence fee payers get value for money but were, at best, "unaware" that payments made were well over the odds. And they are supposed to hold the executive to account, not rubberstamp their proposals.

"The trust neither provides oversight, nor is it necessarily acting as a champion of the BBC." (John Whittingdale, chair of the parliamentary CMS committee). They're also supposed to be champions of the licence fee payers ....

Someone recommended that Radio 1 needed a huge increase in its funding (35% since 2006/07) and Radio 3 could get by with less (8.6%). Who was that?

[Resurrection Man]

.....I don't believe they have the professional competence to do what they're required to do; and they have no competent scrutiny mechanism to query what they're told by the executive/managers. They are clearly responsible (as they constantly repeat) for ensuring that licence fee payers get value for money but were, at best, "unaware" that payments made were well over the odds. And they are supposed to hold the executive to account, not rubberstamp their proposals.

.....

And that is the crux of the matter. Nothing wrong with the concept of a BBC Trust. But just look at the cv's of those on it. Nothing to suggest any sort of competence to be in the positions that they hold.

[amateur51]

And that is the crux of the matter. Nothing wrong with the concept of a BBC Trust. But just look at the cv's of those on it. Nothing to suggest any sort of competence to be in the positions that they hold.

Really? Lord Patten has a blinding cv

[aeolium]

I have long thought that the creation of the BBC Trust was a disastrous mistake. It is a halfway-house between an organisation that stands up for the BBC and one that is supposed to hold it to account but it does neither properly. It utterly failed to rein in the bloated managerial structure at the BBC or the extravagant expenditure on salaries, bonuses and expenses for senior managers and executives, and it doesn't operate at all as an appropriate body for the arbitration of complaints where the complaints procedure of the BBC has been exhausted.

It needs to be replaced by a wholly independent body that can scrutinise the BBC, monitor the managerial structure and expenditure, monitor quality standards and provide an effective procedure for handling complaints where the BBC has simply batted complaints away. It's wrong for that kind of scrutiny to be left to parliamentary select committees as that makes the BBC less independent of government.

[french frank]

Really? Lord Patten has a blinding cv

Of course: one of the Great and the Good. What more do you need?

[amateur51]

Of course: one of the Great and the Good. What more do you need?

The question is about his cv. What we think of his tailor or his Christmas card list is neither here nor there

[eighthobstruction]

I expect it will be on this tomorrow (Monday) ....http://www.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/