The BBC has asked Huw Edwards to return the salary he was paid during the period following his arrest in November last year, after his guilty plea to charges of having indecent images of children.
It comes after the UK Culture Secretary had urged the disgraced newsreader to “return his salary”, while she also asked the BBC to look into whether it can recoup an estimated £200,000 paid to Edwards between his arrest and resignation.
A statement from the corporation said if Edwards had “been up front when asked by the BBC about his arrest, we would never have continued to pay him public money” and added he had “undermined trust in the BBC and brought us into disrepute”.
The corporation was informed that Edwards had been arrested in November 2023 but continued to employ the veteran broadcaster until April, when Edwards resigned on medical advice.
The BBC veteran pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children on July 31st, with the court hearing he had been involved in an online chat with an adult man on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021, who sent him 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children.
The BBC statement said: “There is nothing more important than the public’s trust in the BBC; the BBC board is the custodian of that trust.
“The board has met a number of times over the last week to review information provided by the executive relating to Huw Edwards. The board’s focus has been principally around two issues.
“Firstly, what was known in the lead up to Mr Edwards being charged and pleading guilty last Wednesday to making indecent images of children; and, secondly, the specifics of the BBC’s handling of the complaints and the BBC’s own investigations into Mr Edwards, prior to his resignation on April 22nd, 2024”.
It also announced that the board has commissioned an independent review that will “make recommendations on practical steps that could strengthen a workplace culture in line with BBC values”.
Previously, UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Sky News that she had asked to see the employment law advice given to the BBC, and called for the corporation’s director-general Tim Davie to address “outstanding issues”, and come back to her.
The minister also said of Edwards: “I think he ought to return his salary.
“I think having been arrested on such serious charges all the way back in November, to continue to receive that salary all the way through until he resigned is wrong, and it’s not a good use of taxpayers’ money.”
Before Edwards resigned, 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.
In an interview with BBC News on August 1st, the director-general defended the rise, saying it was made up of an “inflationary increase” and work Edwards did at the BBC in February 2023 before any allegations were made.
Mr Davie also said in the same interview that the corporation would “look at all options” in trying to reclaim pay from Edwards after the revelations, but ruled out doing the same for his pension due to legal reasons.
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.
