The Committee concludes that the preferred candidate for chair of the BBC Trust, Mrs Rona Fairhead CBE, is a suitable candidate for the post

On 10 March 2011 the Culture, Media and Sport Committee held a pre-appointment hearing with the Government's preferred candidate for Chairman of the BBC Trust, LordChris Patten. The Committee questioned to Lord Patten on the following specific matters: (a) the recruitment process and the role of headhunters; (b) any relevant expertise that he could bring to bear on the role; (c) his political independence and role in the Conservative Party; (d) levels of remuneration; (e) his future priorities for the BBC Trust; (f) the relationship between the BBC and the National Audit Office; (g) the October 2010 licence fee agreement and its impact on the BBC; and (h) how he saw the future of the BBC. On the basis of the evidence provided to the Committee, it concludes that he is a suitable candidate for the post.

Pre-appointment hearing with the Government's preferred candidate for chairman of the BBC Trust : Second report of session 2010-12, Vol. 2: Oral Evidence

In this report the Welsh Affairs and Culture, Media and Sport committees approve the appointment of Huw Jones as Chairman of S4C, the Welsh language national broadcaster. The two committees held a joint pre-appointment hearing with Huw Jones, the Government's preferred candidate for Chairman of the S4C Authority. This followed earlier reports from both committees expressing concern for the future independence of S4C after new governance and funding arrangements with the BBC were introduced - Welsh Affairs Committee: S4C: fifth report of session 2010-12, HC 614 (ISBN 9780215559449) and Culture, Media and Sport Committee, BBC Licence Fee Settlement and Annual Report, fourth report of session 2010-12, HC 454 (ISBN 9780215559654). The committees are satisfied that Huw Jones has demonstrated the high degree of professional competence and personal independence required for the post. They recommend that the Minister proceed with the appointment.

The Committee held a pre-appointment meeting with the government's preferred candidate for chair of Ofcom, Dame Patricia Hodgson. The Committee is satisfied that Dame Patricia is a suitable candidate and recommends that the Secretary of State proceeds with the appointment.

This report considers the experience of some three years of holding 'pre-appointment' hearings by select committees to examine the 'preferred candidate' for certain public appointments before that appointment is confirmed. Whilst the committee considers the experiment a success they do recommend a number of changes. They propose a three tier list: Posts in the first tier are those considered to be of sufficient constitutional significance as to require a process which is effectively a joint appointment by Government and the House of Commons. Posts in the second tier are those which the committee proposes should be subject to an enhanced an improved version of the current process, and which should be subject to an 'effective veto' by the House of Commons or its committees. For posts in the third tier, pre-appointment hearings should be at the discretion of committees.