Terms of Appointment
Under the terms of the Charter, Board Members will be eligible to serve for an initial term of five years and will be eligible to reappointment for a further period of up to three years.
The Royal Charter requires remuneration to be set at rates comparable to the prevailing rates payable to the members of boards of public sector bodies:
- The Board has determined a rate of £6,525 per annum for a minimum time commitment of 15 days a year.
Reimbursable standard travel and other expenses will be limited to those actually and necessarily incurred in the course of official business in accordance with the PRP’s gifts, hospitality and expenses policy. You can find this – here.
Remuneration is taxable under Schedule E of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 (as amended) and subject to Class I National Insurance contributions.
Who Can Apply?
We encourage applications from all candidates regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, or political opinion.
Ineligibility
The Royal Charter prevents someone from becoming a member of the Board of the Recognition Panel who:
- Is or has been an editor of a publication of a relevant publisher[1].
- Is a relevant publisher or otherwise involved in the publication of news or current affairs in the United Kingdom.
- Is a member of the House of Commons, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the National Assembly for Wales, the European Parliament or the House of Lords (but only if, in the case of the House of Lords, the member holds or has held within the previous five years an official affiliation with a political party).
- Is a Minister of the Crown, a member of the Scottish Government, a Northern Ireland Minister, or a Welsh Minister.
[1] Defined in Section 41 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 as a person who, in the course of a business (whether or not carried on with a view to profit), publishes news-related material:- (a) which is written by different authors, and (b) which is to any extent subject to editorial control. Please refer to the 2013 Act for the full definition and exceptions.
Conflicts of Interest
Candidates are required to declare any interest that may present an actual or perceived conflict of interest prior to appointment. These do not necessarily constitute an automatic bar to appointment, but they must be manageable. Candidates invited to interview will be questioned about any real or perceived conflicts of interest and how they propose to manage them. They will also be required to declare any actual or perceived conflict of interest during the term of appointment if appropriate.
The Selection Panel will also need to ensure that, taken together, the past actions and past and present affiliations of the Board Members must not lead to any reasonable perception that the Board overall will not act entirely independently of any such interests.
Excluded and Restricted Activities
The Royal Charter places certain restrictions on political activity of Board Members and staff and it would be inappropriate given the PRP’s status as wholly independent of government for any Board Member to engage in active politics. The Board also abides by the policy that Members will not say or do anything on social media that negatively impacts on the PRP’s reputation. Further details can be found here.
Candidates are required to declare any political affiliations in the interest of openness and transparency.