The BBC has found that Richard Sharp breached its code of practice by failing to disclose discussions relating to a “possible loan by a third party” to then prime minister Boris Johnson ahead of his appointment as chair.
But the BBC board’s nominations committee also found that there were no concerns about Sharp’s integrity as chair in a report published on Thursday.
Sharp quit last month after an investigation concluded he had breached public appointment rules by failing to declare his early involvement in help provided to Johnson that led to his securing an £800,000 loan.
Sharp said at the time that his continued presence at the BBC was a potential “distraction” but denied any wrongdoing given that he had neither facilitated nor arranged the financing.
He will stay in post until the end of June, although the selection of his successor could take longer, meaning an acting chair may need to be appointed.
The nominations committee was asked to look into Sharp’s interests since he became chair in February 2021, alongside a separate probe by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointment into the appointment process.
The BBC nominations committee on Thursday said it had no concerns over Sharp’s integrity in the role but agreed that “relevant declarations should have been made at the outset of the chairman’s tenure, to avoid any potential perceived conflicts of interest”.
“This was not in line with clause 2.4 of the board’s code of practice,” it said in a document published on the BBC website.
Sharp declined to comment on the result of the BBC review.
The review was carried out by three non-executive members of the BBC board’s nominations committee: Sir Nicholas Serota, Shirley Garrood and Dame Elan Closs Stephens.
In the committee’s minutes, also published by the BBC, the members agreed “it was regrettable that the relationship with the former prime minister and the discussions relating to a possible loan by a third party had not been disclosed to the BBC at the start of his tenure as chair”.
The review recommended paying greater attention to the disclosure of relevant interests at the start of BBC board and committee meetings. This should include “an expectation that there would be a high level of disclosure”.
The broadcaster’s code of practice and guidance should be assessed to ensure they were clear enough that personal and political, as well as professional or pecuniary relationships, should be considered for disclosure, the review said.
It concluded that there should be a clearer process for reporting meetings between board members and senior political figures to the BBC and Whitehall officials.
The committee reviewed a list of recorded meetings between Sharp and senior political figures, including the former prime minister, and found that three had not been noted in BBC records.
Some of the meetings had been social events, including an event at Chequers in May 2021, but Sharp told the committee that no personal financial matters in respect of Johnson were discussed.
The committee was also satisfied that meetings where BBC business was discussed had been for the purpose of promoting its interests, including the licence fee deal that was being negotiated at the time.
