BBC should be governed by annual shareholder meeting

The BBC should be governed by an annual shareholder meeting - similar to those held by public companies - in order to modernise the way the corporation is run, according to a new report.

"Ourbeeb", as the proposed shareholder meeting has been dubbed, would feed in to a board of executive and non-executive directors made up of BBC governors and executives, with Ofcom acting as the corporation's regulator, the paper commissioned by the Commercial Radio Companies Association has concluded.

The report's author, international corporate governance expert Stilpon Nestor, claimed Ourbeeb would solve the problem that the BBC does not have an "owner", whose sole purpose is representing the interests of licence fee payers.

Mr Nestor is proposing that the Ourbeeb shareholder meeting would take over "ownership duties" currently carried out by the BBC's governors and the Department or Culture, Media and Sport.

These duties would include reviewing the BBC's public service remit, setting conditions for new services and either approving, or playing an important role in, the approval of these services.

Paul Brown, the CRCA chief executive, said the report was commissioned to bring "fresh external thinking to the debate about the BBC's future, and that Mr Nestor's ideas would bring the BBC into line with modern international best practice".

"Importantly, [Mr Nestor's ideas] present a framework by which each of the three discrete roles currently performed by the BBC governors, those of ownership, management and regulation, could be best handled by the most appropriate agenc."

Mr Nestor believes the BBC's board of governors and executives should merge into one single board dedicated to the effective management and enthusiastic championing of the BBC.

He also suggests Ofcom's regulatory remit be expanded to address competition issues, and to bring regulation of the BBC's output into line with other broadcasters.

His ideas echo some of the findings of Lord Burns, who was commissioned by the government to review of the future of the BBC, and published his conclusions shortly before Christmas.

Lord Burns came up with three potential options for the corporation's governance and regulation, for the consideration of the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, and her advisers.

He said the board of governors could be retained, but separated more clearly from management, which is the preferred option of BBC chairman, Michael Grade.

Lord Burns also proposed that the BBC could be externally regulated by Ofcom, by a new body, or by "InBeeb", which would insert a new board, with its own chairman and non-executives, between the governors and BBC executives.

If Ms Jowell settles on either the second or third option, the government is likely to face opposition from Mr Grade and the BBC.

Yesterday it emerged that the publication date for the government's hotly anticipated green paper on BBC charter renewal has been delayed.

The government was expected to release the document in January, but it is understood that the culture department may not publish the green paper until late February, or even early March.

And the white paper, which will harden up the green paper's proposals into concrete plans for the BBC's future remit and funding, will not now appear until the autumn at the earliest.

The white paper will form the basis for negotiations between the government and the BBC over the wording of the new charter and details of a new licence fee deal, which will both be introduced.