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BBC chair Samir Shah is now asked about the BBC Board resignation that came last week.

Shumeet Banerji notified the board of his resignation on Friday, following the resignations of director-general Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness.

He cited “governance issues” at the top of the BBC as the reason for his resignation, saying in a leaked letter he was “not consulted” about the events leading up to the resignations.

Shah says Banerji is a “formidable man” who has contributed “enormously” during his four years on the board. When his time came up for renewal, Shah says they had a discussion in the summer about how the set of skills needed moving forward were different to his.

The process to recruit a successor is already under way, he tells the hearing, and says the shortlist is “remarkably good” and “strong”.

Shah says that what has been picked up is that Banerji was “not consulted” about the resignations. However, he says his memory was that he was, and that he had a 26-minute call with Banerji on the Sunday of Davie and Turness’s resignations.

He says it was not a matter for the board, however as “a good chair”, he discussed with non-executive directors to hear their views.

“I’m both disappointed and surprised at that he had to say.”

He is asked if the culture, media and sport would be able to see Banerji’s private letter. Shah says he wants to think about this and will come back to them.

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