Sir Michael Lyons and Democracy
I don’t know much about Sir Michael Lyons, the new chairman of the BBC Trust. I do know he used to be a Labour councillor. I do know he refused to say whether he was still a member of the Labour Party when interviewed in 2004. I do know he has undertaken three projects for Gordon Brown for which he (and his team?) were well remunerated. I do know that he has run three councils. I do know that he is a trained economist with a limited experience of broadcasting. I am not sure that this disqualifies him from the chairmanship, which is now much more of a regulatory role.
The point of this preamble is that I would like to know more. Surely, whatever else one thinks of Sir Michael Lyons’ appointment, the need for parliamentary scrutiny of these kinds of jobs is now overwhelming. There is one well-worn argument against: that it would make theses jobs “political”, with opposition parties scoring points (or making legitimate criticisms!) against the Government’s choice, and therefore put off well-qualified people from applying.
But surely that is a point in favour of parliamentary scrutiny- these jobs are already “political”, they are very much in the public eye, the Opposition already does criticise appointees, and so the appointee should surely welcome a formal process to address concerns and set out his or her suitability for the job.
Lyons should be the last person appointed to a major public job (and announced in the recess) without formal parliamentary scrutiny by a Select Committee.
Charles Barwell said on April 6th, 2007 at 12:07 pm:
Ed
I know Michael Lyons well.
For the past two years he and I have served together on the Board of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra where Michael is Chairman and I chair the Finance Committee. Prior to that I knew Michael when he was Chief Executive of Birmingham Council - the largest metropolitan authority in Europe where he earned the strong respect of all political parties. And in 2004 I invited him to make a presentation to the British-American Project conference in Chicago in 2004 on a theme of the City and Region of the Future.
Michael is a good man, and an exceptional man-manager. And he’s no-one’s crony. Over the past two years the CBSO has faced considerable challenge, not least in the directive from Financial Secretary to the Treasury Dawn Primarolo that orchestras should pay National Insurance Contributions on some of their players earnings and that the claim from HMRC should be back dated to 1999. That would have cost the already cash-strapped orchestra sector £31m - a sum equivalent to its total funding from the Arts Council since 1997. Michael Lyons led the British orchestral sector’s response to what would have been a nightmare scenario robustly and effectively, winning an appeal that means that we only pay NICs on future earnings.
Over the past two years I have taken part in Board meetings where Michael has handled very sensitive matters, particularly with the Musicians Union and BECTU, with real authority. In fact at more than one meeting have been so surprised by his authoritive rebutal of the Union position that I suggested he would be more comfortable crossing the floor to Cameron’s Conservatives. He smiled knowingly!
Due to the term limit on Board membership at the CBSO this is Michael’s last year as the orchestra’s chairman. Michael agreed to my suggestion that we approach Odgers Ray & Berntdsen to conduct an independent and professional search for his successor. They were not a headhunter of whom Michael was particularly aware when we first met them at the end of last year. And as you may know they are headed by Virginia Bottomley and Richard Boggis-Rolfe, both well known Conservatives. It is Odgers who have conducted the BBC Trust search too, and it is right that this has been done professionally and not just by the party of government appointing its latest favourite.
I do think you are right that parliament should have been open to scrutiny in the appointment. But I can advise from close first-hand experience that a very capable, competent and imaginative appointment has been made in Sir Michael Lyons.
Michael will be an excellent Chairman of the BBC Trust. And he won’t suffer any fools. I expect that you will grow to respect him, as I do.
Charles Barwell
Vice-President of the National Conservative Convention