Appointment of new BBC Director-General

It seems that the BBC Trust's promise to set new standards of openness and transparency does not stretch as far as the appointment of the new BBC Director-General.

I asked the Trust about it in January, but their reply (Ref: 1274181) failed to answer my specific enquiry. I sought clarification earlier this week:-

I was not entirely clear from your email [10th February] whether, as part of the commitment to set new standards of openness and transparency, the appointment of a new Director-General will be made in this spirit.

It is now clear that Mark Thompson will be leaving the BBC shortly, and I've read Chris Patten's Statement about this on the Trust website.

Please could you let me know whether

(a) the public will be given the opportunity to put questions to candidates?

and

(b) transcripts of Trust interviews with candidates will be published?

The BBC Trust reply today (Ref: 1398002) implied that the public will not have any say in the appointment process, and stated there is no plan to publish transcripts of interviews with candidates.