Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how long there has been a vacancy on the BBC Board for a member from Northern Ireland; and when they expect this vacancy to be filled.

This role has been vacant since the Board was formed in 2017. It was not possible to make an appointment to the board at that time due to the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Executive. A process to appoint a Northern Ireland Member was run in 2021, but Ministers decided to restart the process due to an insufficiently diverse and broad longlist.

The executive search company Odgers Berndtson was hired to support a new campaign, which is currently underway and closed to applications on 6 June 2022. An appointment will be made in due course, in line with the Code of Governance for Public Appointments and the BBC Royal Charter.