MUMBAI: John Dickie has been appointed as UK pubcaster the BBC's new head of corporate affairs.

Dickie, currently head of public affairs for the BBC and responsible for the organisation's relationship with Parliament and politicians, will take on the new, broader role immediately, retaining the public affairs remit.

The appointment, working to the BBC's Head of Communications Sally Osman, is part of the wider restructuring of the Marketing, Communications & Audiences division (MC&A). He will also take responsibility for all PR research, events and publications and manage a group of senior PR project managers.

Dickie has been a key member of the Charter Review team under the BBC's Director of Strategy, Caroline Thomson, over recent years; and was involved in conveying the BBC's position on the latest Communications Act.

A former public policy consultant with Prima and then GPC, Dickie, 41, was also Regulatory Affairs Director of the European Competitive Telecommunications Association.

Osman said, "We are nearing the end of the Charter Review and Licence Fee settlement process in which John and his team have played an integral role. The focus will soon shift to wider communications priorities through to 2012, strengthening relationships and shifting perceptions. John has great intuition, intelligence and ideas so I'm delighted he and his team are joining the Communications group."

Dickie said, "I'm delighted to be have been given the opportunity by Sally to bring together the BBC's public affairs and public relations teams. Working together, and with colleagues across the BBC, we will be showing how the BBC is delivering its public purposes under the new Charter."

The four-strong Public Affairs team, which includes Andrew Scadding, a former BBC producer and ex-head of Broadcasting with the Conservative Party, will also move in to the communications team within the BBC's MC&A division.