The Board of Governors will be abolished and replaced with a new BBC Trust, which comes into effect on January 1st 2007. The BBC Trust will have its own website, replacing that of the BBC Governors. The site will provide more information about its work and offer further opportunities to engage with licence fee payers.

The BBC Trust has an explicit duty to represent the interests of the public who pay for the BBC through their licence fee and will consult them prior to taking significant decisions on their behalf. It will safeguard the independence of the BBC; ensure value for money and rigorous stewardship of the licence fee; and ensure audiences' expectations for quality and distinctiveness are met.

In order to deliver these changes there will be much sharper separation between those charged with the oversight of the BBC (the BBC Trust) and those responsible for delivering its services (the BBC Executive). To help it perform its duties, the BBC Trust will have new powers and tools at its disposal including a system of Purpose Remits, Service Licences for each BBC service and a Public Value Test, to be applied to any request from BBC management to launch a new, or make a significant change to, a service.

Supported by a full-time, independent Trust Unit, the BBC Trust will seek to be open and transparent in the way it operates and will actively seek the views of, and listen to, licence fee payers.

Eleven Trustees make up the BBC Trust, with members dedicated to the interests of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each is appointed by the Queen on advice from ministers and in accordance with Nolan principles for public appointments.

Three existing Governors will make the transition to the BBC Trust. These are Dermot Gleeson, Richard Tait and Jeremy Peat, as Trustee for Scotland.

The remaining Trustees were announced on 12 October 2006. They are:

Chitra Bharucha, the new Vice-Chairman of the BBC Trust, a former consultant haematologist who now chairs General Medical Council panels that decide on the fitness of doctors to practise medicine;

Diane Coyle, an economist, member of the Competition Commission and former Economics Editor of The Independent;

Alison Hastings, the Trustee for England, who is a former regional newspaper editor;

Patricia Hodgson, the former Chief Executive of the Independent Television Commission (ITC);

Rotha Johnston, an independent businesswoman and the Trustee for Northern Ireland ;

Janet Lewis-Jones, the Vice President of the British Board of Film Classification and the Trustee for Wales;

David Liddiment, former Director of Programmes at ITV;

Mehmuda Mian Pritchard, a solicitor and Independent Police Complaints Commissioner since 2004.

You can read the press release here.

The publication of the Charter marks the end of a three year process of public debate. Although the new structures will not formally be in place until January 2007, the present Board of Governors fully supports the changes and is committed to operating within the spirit of the new Charter.