BBC Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland controllers to help direct Beeb strategy

Published Tuesday 7 October 2008 at 18:40 by Matthew Hemley

The controllers of BBC Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been promoted to the roles of BBC directors and are to join the Corporation’s Direction Group, the body responsible for making operational decisions and for following the strategy set by the executive board.

Each has been handed the new responsibility as part of the Corporation’s commitment to production outside of London and to help ensure it fully represents the nations, regions and communities across the UK.

A new UK forum has also been established which will be chaired by director general Mark Thompson and provide an arena for issues relating to the BBC’s presence outside London.

Thompson said: “The UK has changed significantly in the last ten years, not just politically and socially, but also in the requirements of our audiences. These changes will add weight to the out of London representation on the BBC’s senior strategy and decision-making body.”

In their new roles as directors, which come into play from April next year, BBC Scotland controller Ken MacQuarrie, BBC Wales controller Menna Richards and controller of BBC Northern Ireland, Peter Johnston, will report to deputy director general Mark Byford.