Former Ofcom official to advise BBC Board of Governors

The BBC Governance Unit announced today that Sarah Thane has been engaged as an independent external adviser to the Board of Governors.
Sarah Thane, who until April was Content and Standards Advisor at Ofcom, will advise on regulatory and compliance matters on an on-going basis and, in particular, work with the Governance Unit to develop the service licences the Governors will apply to each BBC service.
Nicholas Kroll, Director of the Governance Unit, said: "The Governors are committed to drawing on independent expert advice to inform their decisions; they and the Governance Unit will benefit greatly from Sarah's extensive experience in content regulation from her time at Ofcom and the ITC."
Sarah Thane said: "I am looking forward to working with the Governors and their team as they develop and implement new governance arrangements designed to strengthen the BBC's accountability to licence fee payers.
"Service licences in particular will be a vital element in helping the Governors to be more effective in setting service objectives and judging the BBC's performance in delivering public value."
At the ITC, Sarah Thane was Director of Public Affairs from 1991 to 1996; Director of Programmes from 1996 to 2001; and Director of Programmes & Advertising from 2001 to 2003.
She is a Fellow of the Royal Television Society and was its Chairman from May 2000 to June 2002.
(GB)