On 5 November 2009 he was announced chairman Designate of Channel Four Television Corporation, succeeding Luke Johnson, who retired on 27 January 2010 following six years in the post.

[citation needed] Lord Burns was a member of the Hansard Society Commission on Parliamentary Scrutiny which ran from 1999 to 2001.

[5] He was a member of the Scottish Fee Support Review from 1998 to 2000, and Chairman of the Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs in England and Wales[6] in 2000.

[9] He was named Chairman of Abbey National plc in February 2002, and a non-executive director of Banco Santander Central Hispano S.A. in December 2004.

In 2004, he was appointed Chairman of the FA Structural Review by The Football Association, and delivered his Final Report on 12 August 2005.