BBC Trust vice chairman Diane Coyle is to step down at the end of April, sparking a recruitment process to find Rona Fairhead’s new deputy.
Economist Coyle has served as a BBC trustee since November 2006 and became vice chairman in March 2011. She will not pursue a third term at the corporation’s governing body.
Coyle stepped up as interim chairman last year following Lord Patten’s sudden departure on health grounds. She ultimately lost out in the race to land the role permanently to Fairhead, who was selected as the government’s preferred candidate in August 2014.
During the time Coyle acted up, she oversaw the BBC television services review and branded BBC1 “predictable”. She said: “Despite its achievements, our research shows an audience concern that BBC1 plays it too safe in parts of its peak time schedule.”
Diane Coyle on..
The minutes for BBC Trust’s 20 November meeting, published on Tuesday, confirmed there will be an “upcoming vice chairman recruitment campaign”. This will be overseen by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport.
The Trust is also on the hunt for two other trustees to replace Alison Hastings and David Liddiment, who stepped down in October. The governing body faces a busy 2015, a year in which it will need to decide the future of BBC3 and begin charter renewal negotiations.
Furthermore, the Trust is gearing up to publish the Dame Janet Smith Review into sexual harassment at the BBC during Jimmy Savile’s tenure. Fairhead and fellow trustees Coyle, Sonita Alleyne and Bill Matthews are part of a working group considering the report.
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