Monday, 12 November 2012

George Entwistle 'could be stripped of BBC payout' - Telegraph.co.uk

"I do hope the level of concern about this is being noted by the BBC Trust and indeed by Mr Entwistle himself."

"The National Audit Office is empowered to conduct a value for money review of any issue. If they decide to review this decision, I expect that the BBC would co-operate fully," she told the Commons,

"The circumstances of his departure make it hard to justify the level of severance money that has been agreed.

"Contractual arrangements are a matter for the BBC Trust, but the Trust also has clear responsibilities to ensure value for money for the licence fee payer."

She went on: "The Trust needs to act swiftly to ensure the management and leadership issues are resolved, and that these failings cannot be repeated.

"It's clear from the interim director-general's interviews today that the BBC is looking seriously at what went wrong, where responsibility lies and how to address this in the long term."

Ms Miller gave her backing to Lord Patten, the BBC Chairman.

Philip Davies, who sits on the Public Accounts Committee, said Lord Patten should resign as he had been "asleep at the wheel" and had done "absolutely nothing to earn the staggering salary he gets".

Ms Miller responded: "While I feel the trust could have acted quicker with the initial inquiries, I do feel now that it is acting decisively to address what is now a very real crisis. Lord Patten has a key role in making sure this crisis is now well handled and I support him in now doing that."

Ms Miller appeared to criticise Tom Watson MP, who had previously told the Commons there was a paedophile ring operating within Downing Street in the 1980s.

Sir Tony Baldry, told the Commons: "We all need to be very careful not to use Parliamentary privilege simply to stand up stories".

Ms Miller responded: "I think there are individuals who perhaps want to examine their consciences on this issue and perhaps apologise where appropriate."

Lord Patten, the chairman of the BBC Trust, earlier admitted George Entwistle's £450,000 pay-off is twice what the BBC legally has to pay.

He disclosed that the director general was only legally entitled to a six month pay-off.

However he decided to offer him the 12 month package to obtain a "consensual resignation" from Mr Entwistle on Saturday night. He was in post as director general for just 54 days.

A spokesman for David Cameron said today that the payment was 'hard to justify.'

Shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman also claimed the payment was a 'reward for failure.'

In a letter to John Whittingdale, the chairman of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee, Lord Patten said that the 12 month pay deal would have only had to have been paid if Mr Entwistle had been fired.

He said: "Under the terms of George's contract, the notice period for resignation is six months. The notice period for termination by the BBC Trust is 12 months, both with the right for the Trust to make payments in lieu of notice."

He continued: "In agreeing to 12 months' notice rather than six, we had in mind the following points.

"In the absence of George's honourable offer to resign, I would have had to speak to the Trustees about the option of termination by us (which fortunately was not necessary).

"In these circumstances, George would have been entitled to 12 months notice.

"In circumstances where we needed to conclude matters quickly and required George's ongoing co-operation in a number of very difficult and sensitive matters, including the inquiries into issues associated with Savile, I concluded that a consensual resignation on these terms was clearly the better route."

"It is hard to justify a sizeable pay off but that is clearly a matter for the BBC trust and it's for them to justify," the spokesman said.

Lord Patten said that he had consulted his colleagues on the Trust's remuneration committee and took legal advice before agreeing the payment.

He added: "Our conclusion was that a settlement on these terms was justified and necessary.

"The alternative was long drawn out discussions and continuing uncertainty at a time when the BBC needs all of its focus to be on resolving fundamental issues of trust in BBC journalism."

Political pressure is building on Lord Patten to reverse his decision after The Prime Minister's official spokesman said Mr Entwistle's pay off was "hard to justify" and suggested the BBC Trust should explain its decision licence fee payers.

Mr Cameron has "full confidence" in Lord Patten as chair of the Trust, but the BBC would admit they did not "react quick enough" to events, the spokesman said.

The BBC's "credibility has been affected" by the crisis but the corporation and the Trust are now "focused" and "getting a grip", he added.

"It is hard to justify a sizeable pay off but that is clearly a matter for the BBC trust and it's for them to justify," the spokesman said.

"It is not a media organisation like any other because it is funded by the licence fee and its status is somewhat different. It is public money and it obviously has to justify itself to the people who fund it. They are accountable to the people who fund them."

Earlier today, Ms Miller said: "The BBC is a global British institution, and above all else it is vital that it focuses on restoring its credibility. The Trust needs to act swiftly to ensure that the management and leadership issues in the Corporation are resolved ."

"I felt that the Trust was slow off the mark in responding to the crisis but that it is now acting decisively.We must not lose sight of the Inquiries at the heart of all this. They remain of the utmost importance."

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