The phrase "a unitary board" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used in discussions about corporate governance, where a single board of directors is responsible for both management and oversight functions.
Example: "The company has adopted a unitary board structure to streamline decision-making and enhance accountability."
Alternatives: "single board" or "integrated board".
Ever since trust chair Rona Fairhead gave the idea of a unitary board her approval a year ago, the notion has gathered such widespread agreement that newspapers are now discussing runners and riders for the new role of a non-executive chairman, with Roger Carr, Howard Stringer and Gail Rebuck all mentioned as contenders.
Burns, who led Jowell's review of BBC governance in 2004, said he stuck by his conclusion a decade ago that the BBC should be run by a unitary board, with more non-executive than executive directors, and an outside regulator.
How does a unitary board chosen by politicians achieve any unity of purpose?
They called for the BBC to have a unitary board with an independent chair.
Instead, he wondered whether the current system should be reformed in some way, replaced by a new standalone regulator and a unitary board, or handed over in its entirety to Ofcom and a unitary board.
We share his view that external regulation and a unitary board for the BBC will bring greater clarity to the corporation's governance.
The committee also said it supported recommendations from the BBC director general, Tony Hall, for a smaller unitary board with a greater number of independent directors, suggesting a split of five government appointees and a further seven made up of executive and non-executive roles.
Another argument was that the election of a solo board member would be a problem because most fund families have a single ("unitary") board that oversees all funds in the complex or they use a cluster board structure where two or more boards oversee groupings of funds.
Tony Hall seems to have anticipated the debate by spending his first two years in the job quietly gathering a group of advisers around him, such as former Sony boss Sir Howard Stringer, a team that could easily turn into a proposed unitary board ultimately responsible for checking the sort of editorial and financial lapses that have occurred over the past few years.
Whittingdale wants to abolish the BBC Trust, the corporation's governing body, and create a new unitary board with responsibility for the broadcaster's day-to-day operations – a suggestion strongly opposed by many at the BBC.
Fairhead had been due to stay on until 2018 to see through the transition to a new unitary board.
