Christmas humbug, anyone ?

In a cascade of pre-Christmas announcements, the BBC is also expected to reveal this week the outcome of its review of governance. A review is always a good shock-absorber - this one came after ultimate responsibility for huge pay-offs was tossed from hand to hand like a live nuclear hot potato by the Trust and Executive, past and present, in front of a rightly-astonished Public Accounts Committee.

But is the Harrold/Payne solution a bodge or a breakthrough ? (Phil Harrold, Head of Governance at the Trust, former senior advisor to the Victoria State Government, Australia; Julian Payne, cheery but deposed Head of Communications, batting for the Executive).

The issue has been discussed officially at no less than five Trust meetings, with Fiona Reynolds, lead non-exec for the Exec, missing the first two, and some non-execs feeling a little left outside the process. In September, Trust minutes promised "visible and significant reforms in the way that the Trust and Executive Board operated so that the BBC could demonstrate that it is well run and appropriately governed".

Well, the words may soon be visible, but their meaning could well be a matter of continuing opacity. Expect incompatible phrase-making along the lines of "The Trust will stand back more from detailed operational management, but will continue to exercise appropriate and rigorous scrutiny when necessary", "The Trust will let the Executive manage the delivery of its objectives, but continue to hold them to account on the modalities where they're clearly at odds with public service values", and other similar blah.