Chaired by Sarah Weir, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, London
Tony Hall: After he became Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House in 2001 he set up ROH2, a department devoted to supporting new artists and developing new audiences. His initiatives include broadening access to the Opera House - big screen relays out of London, Paul Hamlyn weekends, and Travelex £10 Mondays – and he has also brought new funding into the ROH from the Arts Council, individuals and outside companies. Previously Chief Executive BBC News, he launched Radio 5 Live, Britain’s first 24 news and sport radio, BBC News 24, BBC News Online and BBC Parliament. Currently Chair of the Theatre Royal, Stratford East and Chair of the Sector Skills Council for the Creative and Cultural Industries, he also chairs the Music and Dance Scheme Advisory Board, and is currently leading a Dance Review for the DfES. He is a member of the Management Committee of the Clore Leadership Programme, and a non-executive Director of Channel 4 Television.
Estelle Morris: Baroness Morris of Yardley is a British Labour politician and member of the House of Lords. A graduate of the University of Warwick, he was a teacher at the inner-city Sidney Stringer School in Coventry and was a member of Warwick District Council from 1979 to 1991. She was elected to Parliament in 1992 for Birmingham Yardley, became a minister in the Department for Education and Employment and was promoted to Secretary of State for Education and Skills in 2001, but stepped down a year later. She rejoined the Government in 2003 2003 as Minister for the Arts but resigned as an MP in 2005. She is currently President of the National Children's Bureau and a Board Director for the Performing Right Society (PRS)
Eric Nicoli: the former United Biscuits chief executive Eric Nicoli became executive chairman of EMI Music in 1999, as successor to Sir Colin Southgate. Taking over at a difficult time for the music group (embracing the EMI, Virgin, Capitol, Parlophone, Chrysalis, Blue Note, Mute and EMI Classics labels and home to artists such as The Beatles, Garth Brooks, Coldplay, Janet Jackson, Norah Jones, Kylie Minogue, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, the Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams, Maria Callas and Sir Simon Rattle), he has steered the company forward steadily. He is Chairman of the EMI Music Sound Foundation; he sits on the UK government’s Creative Industries Forum on Intellectual Property and from 1991 to September 2003 was Deputy Chairman of Business in the Community.
Shaun Woodward: Labour MP St Helens South ( after controversially leaving the Conservative opposition in 1999) he was in May 2006 appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the DCMS with responsibilities for the digital handover for TV. He has served on the Joint Committee of Human Rights, and was a prominent supporter of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.