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Indeed, now is a particularly exciting time for the ´óÏó´«Ã½. The new Royal Charter places new demands on everyone involved –not least the important job of getting to grips with new governance arrangements. But it's the increasingly complex and converging media world which presents the biggest challenges and is the background against which we will work in the future.

What does this mean for the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Trust?

As the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s sovereign body – or parent body as I think of it – the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Trust's duty is very clear. We must ensure that the decisions we take represent the interests of those who matter most. The public. The people who own the ´óÏó´«Ã½.

Every member of the UK public pays the same licence fee and each has equal ownership. No institutional shareholders demanding their dividend, or advertisers demanding schedules designed only to deliver ratings. Just the public rightly demanding great programmes which inform, educate and entertain in equal measure.

My job as Chairman of the Trust is to ensure that we listen to the many and varied views throughout the UK and seek to ensure that they are reflected in the work and output of the ´óÏó´«Ã½. Here I believe I can bring both experience and enthusiasm from my earlier career. This is a complex nation with many different communities of place and of interest. It is vital to our future prosperity and the strength of our social fabric that the work of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ reflects and enriches that diversity as well as the values and history that we share together.

I join a strong and talented Board which under the leadership of Chitra Bharucha has already begun to demonstrate its effectiveness. We will continue to reach our decisions collectively, acting independently of ´óÏó´«Ã½ management, but with a shared understanding of the important job the ´óÏó´«Ã½ does both at home and abroad.

It is inevitable that our decisions – informed properly by analysis, evidence and judgement – will sometimes disappoint ´óÏó´«Ã½ management, sometimes will disappoint the commercial sector, and sometimes disappoint both. But we will be transparent and always justify our decisions with clear explanations. No-one should ever be in doubt that the people we serve are the public who pay for and own the ´óÏó´«Ã½.

Under my leadership the Trust will continue to:

• safeguard the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s editorial independence and ensure that it is impartial, never allowing any individual, organisation or body of opinion to gain too much influence;
• respect each £135.50 annual licence fee by ensuring it is invested wisely and that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ demonstrates efficiency in all of its activity;
• ensure the ´óÏó´«Ã½ operates fairly, that it is aware of its own strength in the market, listens to the commercial sector and responds by making changes where doing so will ensure better public value; but most of all, we will
• set a bold and exciting public service challenge to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ - asking it to draw on all its creative skills to provide the very best quality, most original programmes possible with the monies available to it.

The Trust's role is to set the strategic direction for the ´óÏó´«Ã½. We have to follow the six purposes laid out in the Charter and our task is to set clear priorities to guide the Corporation and to keep it focused on its key responsibilities throughout the Charter period.

In doing our job, the Trust will recognise the important contribution the ´óÏó´«Ã½ makes to UK plc in terms of income, innovation and reputation. But the responsibility of the Trust is to set clear boundaries so that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ uses its considerable economic power with care for the interests of other parties.

Over the next few months the Trust must decide how the licence fee will be invested during the first 6 years of this Charter. We will be informed by the results of the Trust Unit's first major survey of public opinion about the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s priorities. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ management is developing options which it will present to the Trust before the summer. I spoke to Mark Thompson a second time yesterday afternoon and I look forward to learning more as he develops his ideas.

It's clear to me that some radical thinking is underway. Whilst this may have been prompted by the licence fee settlement I am in no doubt that it is the right response to longer term challenges in both markets and digital technology. This debate provides an exciting opportunity, I think, to consider how the licence fee might best be used to meet the public's growing expectations.

Before closing, I would like to take this opportunity to add my own voice to the previous requests made to those who have influence, for the swift and safe return of Alan Johnston to his family, friends and colleagues.

The ´óÏó´«Ã½ Trust might necessarily be independent in its decision-making, but it should never be detached from the responsibilities and risks which its journalists and staff face in doing their jobs.

As I said earlier, it is a great privilege to be appointed Chairman. My first priority will be to learn more about what the public expects from its ´óÏó´«Ã½. What people love, what they don't like, what they value, take pride in, want more of, and sometimes perhaps want less of. The public has a right to expect great things from this great cultural institution. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ cannot please everyone with every programme, nor should it seek to. But it has a duty to deliver experiences of quality and value in return for each licence fee it receives.

The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is undoubtedly the UK's foremost cultural institution and the UK's best known and highest regarded international brand. It will only remain so, if it delivers on the public's expectations and justifies their continuing confidence and support.