BBC needs to reassure people in wake of Huw Edwards scandal – Culture Secretary

The Culture Secretary says her concern is that “warning signs” are spotted in the future, after former BBC presenter  Huw Edwards admitted having indecent images of children.

Lisa Nandy asked the BBC to look into whether it can recoup money from Huw Edwards’ pay packet, during a meeting with director general Tim Davie on Thursday.

Edwards admitted making indecent photographs, with seven of the 41 images being of the most serious type, earlier in the week, and the BBC acknowledged it knew he was arrested in November.

When asked about her meeting with Mr Davie, Ms Nandy told BBC News: “We had a very robust and frank discussion about the circumstances around the case, and some of the decisions that have been made during that case and also since.

“Obviously, I am particularly concerned to make sure that people have confidence in the BBC.

“I think the director general made a good start yesterday, in going out to be as open and transparent as possible with the public, both about what the BBC knew but also about why they made the decision they did, and also the use of taxpayers’ money, which is obviously important to a lot of people.”

She also appeared to suggest that some of findings of an internal investigation into Edwards should be made public.

She said: “I think we all recognise there is a job of work to do, to get more information in the public domain, to reassure people, not just about the decisions that have been made but also about the action that the BBC will take going forwards.

“My concern is to make sure warning signs are caught, complaints are acted on, that public money is used well, and to make sure as far as is humanly possible that we don’t have a repeat of this situation in the future.”

The Labour MP for Wigan also explained to Sky News that she has “ongoing concerns”, that the BBC needs “futureproofing”, so that whistleblowers are taken seriously and complaints are acted upon.

She added: “There are outstanding issues that the BBC director general has agreed to take away with his board, and come back to me on, and I’ll look forward to continuing those discussions next week.”

Ms Nandy also said that she has asked to see the employment law advice given to the BBC.

She added that Edwards should return his salary, which is estimated to have been around £200,000 from his arrest until he resigned five months later.

Ms Nandy said that she was “very concerned” that taxpayers money was being used to pay Edwards’ salary, when the newsreader was committing “serious crimes”.

She added: “I’ve asked the BBC to look at what’s possible.”

Ms Nandy told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Chiles On Friday programme that Mr Davie ‘recognised there is much more work to do”, and explained what types of questions the BBC needs to address.

She also said: “There are questions, though, that many people have asked about – whistleblowers for example – and whether those complaints were investigated at the time, whether that full investigation has been done, what has been learnt for the future.

“There are questions about the contractual arrangements that the BBC has and whether it’s appropriate if people are suspended, particularly once they’ve been arrested, to continue to receive not just full pay, but also to see an uplift in that pay and whether there is anything that can be done in this case and in the future.”

Two whistleblowers, made up of one current and one former BBC worker, alleged that they received “inappropriate messages” from Edwards, and expressed disappointment on Thursday to BBC News that an internal inquiry into the former newsreader had not been made public.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said that Ms Nandy is “like the whole nation, shocked by Huw Edwards’ abhorrent actions, and her thoughts are with the victims whose lives have been destroyed. It is now for the judiciary to decide on an appropriate sentence”.

Before Edwards resigned on medical advice in April, he was the broadcaster’s highest-paid newsreader, with a pay bracket between £475,000 and £479,999 for the year 2023/24, according to the BBC’s latest annual report.

It marked a £40,000 pay rise from 2022/23, when he was paid between £435,000 and £439,999.

A DCMS statement said that Ms Nandy “sought assurance that the BBC has robust processes in place regarding non-editorial complaints, and the handling of complex contractual matters, so that in future it can act at pace and be transparent with the public at the earliest opportunity to ensure trust is maintained”.

Ms Nandy has asked the broadcaster to keep her updated on any developments in the case.

In an interview with BBC News on Thursday, the director general defended Edwards’ pay rise, saying it was made up of an “inflationary increase” and work the veteran broadcaster did at the corporation in February 2023 before any allegations were made.

Mr Davie also said the corporation will “look at all options” in trying to reclaim pay from Edwards.

The BBC chief said: “These are, unfortunately, the specifics of how it works, that we can’t claw back pension.

“I think when it comes to pay, again, legally challenging, but we’ll look at all options.”

Mr Davie also said the BBC was following police advice when they did not disclose Edwards’ arrest publicly.

He said senior managers knew about the serious “category of the potential offences”, but not about the details of the charges.

Mr Davie said: “The police came to us and said, ‘Look, we need to do our work in total confidence, we’ve arrested, please keep this confidential’.

“And at that point, I think the principle is clear in my mind, and I say we thought long and hard about this, this wasn’t a knee-jerk decision.

“And it was difficult but when the police, if you think about this in terms of precedent, people do get arrested and then we’ve had situations where no charges (are made) and there’s nothing there to be followed up on.”

While he knew the severity of the charges, Mr Davie said he was “very shocked” when the details of Edwards’ arrest came to light in full earlier this week.

“We were very shocked. No-one knew about the specifics of what we heard over the last few days, which have been deeply disturbing,” he said.

He said that because Edwards remained suspended before his resignation in April, there were no issues relating to BBC employees’ safety.

He added: “Another factor at this point was very significant duty-of-care considerations.

“I think it was right for us to say, ‘Look, we’ll let the police do their business, and then when charges happen, we will act’.”

The BBC previously said after Edwards’ guilty plea that if he had been charged while he was still an employee it would have sacked him, but at the point of charge he no longer worked for the corporation.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “shocked and appalled” by the news when asked about the case at a press conference in Downing Street.

Edwards resigned from the BBC in April “on the basis of medical advice from his doctors” after unrelated allegations that he paid a young person for sexually explicit photos.

Police found no evidence of criminal behaviour in the matter.

Edwards will next appear in court on September 16.