BBC boss Tim Davie is being hauled in by the Culture Secretary for an urgent explanation of the handling of the Huw Edwards scandal.
Lisa Nandy reportedly has serious concerns that the Corporation continued to pay the presenter’s massive salary even after becoming aware of his arrest last November.
She is understood to have summoned the Director General to get to the bottom of the matter before deciding on her next steps.
While the BBC is independent of government, it is funded by taxpayers who pay the licence fee and there is a certain level of scrutiny.
Tory Shadow Culture Minister Julia Lopez said: “Licence fee payers have a right to know why Mr Edwards was awarded such a high salary given the timing and nature of the allegations.”
The ex-news anchor, 62, today admitted being sent a string of indecent photos of children – including sexual videos of a boy as young as seven.
Edwards received the pictures on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021.
The corporation today admitted it knew Edwards had been arrested in November while the newsreader was suspended.
This means the star – one of the BBC’s highest-paid presenters – continued to receive his £475,000 salary.
Edwards remained employed by the company for a further five months before he quit in April.
The BBC also said it was “shocked” to hear the details that emerged in court and said there is “no place for such abhorrent behaviour”.
It added: “The police have confirmed that the charges are not connected to the original complaint raised with the BBC in the summer of 2023, nevertheless in the interests of transparency we think it important to set out some points about events of the last year.
“In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation.
“At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.
“Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court. If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him.
“In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.
“During this period, in the usual way, the BBC has kept its corporate management of these issues separate from its independent editorial functions.”
