The British Board of Film Classification is pleased to announce its intention to appoint Lord Taylor of Warwick and >Janet Lewis-Jones as its new Vice-Presidents. The Home Secretary has agreed formally to designate both candidates under Section 4 of the Video Recordings Act 1984, and these proposals will today be laid before both Houses of Parliament.
Lord Taylor of Warwick and Janet Lewis-Jones will be taking over from the current Vice President, Monica Sims, who will be retiring at the end of this year.
BBFC President Andreas Whittam Smith said of the appointments, "We are delighted that Janet Lewis-Jones and Lord Taylor have agreed to join the Board and to help us face the challenge of taking media regulation into the next century."
Lord Taylor of Warwick (John Taylor) qualified as a barrister in 1978, when he won the Gray's Inn Advocacy Award. He first hit the headlines in 1992 as Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Cheltenham and became a life peer in 1996. His law practice includes commercial law and media law. He developed a sizeable media practice and became a legal adviser to IPC Magazines Ltd for the TV Times and the BBC for Law in Action. He has also presented his own TV Programmes on consumer affairs, legal rights, and the legal system and has been a presenter on BBC Breakfast News. Lord Taylor was Special Adviser to the Home Secretary and Ministers of State in 1990-91, when his portfolio included Inner City Business, Charities, Legal Services and Crime Prevention. Lord Taylor has always had a passion for sport, especially cricket as his father played for West Indies and he himself is a former Warwickshire County Colts cricketer. He was also a keen rugby player and athlete. He is a Patron of various children's charities including Kidscape and the Parents for Children Charity. He is also President of ACWI (African Caribbean Westminster Initiative) and WISCA (West Indian Senior Citizen's Association). He and Lady Taylor (Katherine), a doctor of medicine, have three young children.
Janet Lewis-Jones lives in mid Wales. She did VSO and then was called to the Bar in 1974. She joined the administrative Civil Service and for 12 years worked in the Home Office, Cabinet Office Secretariat and in the Privy Council Office, where she was Principal Private Secretary to the Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords, William Whitelaw. In 1986 she joined Welsh Water and was privatisation co-ordinator, working on the flotation of all the water authorities. Since 1991 she has been an independent policy adviser. She is currently a board member of the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority, S4C TV, and of the British Waterways Board, and chairs their Audit Committees. She is trustee of The Baring Foundation; of Barnardo's; of the Carnegie UK Trust; The Police Foundation; and the Community Development Foundation. She is a member of the Equal Opportunities Commission (Wales Committee) and of the Council of the University of Wales (Lampeter). She has also recently been, among other appointments, a Specialist Adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee on the Public Service, and a Public Affairs Consultant to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
On accepting their posts, Lord Taylor said "I am honoured to succeed Monica Sims, who did a magnificent job. I am particularly looking forward to working with all my colleagues at the BBFC. As a parent, I regard the protection of children as one of our priorities".
Janet Lewis-Jones said, "I look forward to working under the leadership of Andreas Whittam Smith and with the team at the BBFC. Media regulation involves important and difficult issues of public policy which I believe need to be approached with consistency and openness. I look forward to the challenge"