The BBC director-general said he hopes 'to make progress' to recover the around £200,000 in earnings from former newsreader Huw Edwards. Tim Davie told the House of Lords' Communications and Digital Committee that the money had not yet been returned.
Huw Edwards still hasn't repaid any of the £200,000 he was paid by the BBC after being arrested over child abuse images, Tim Davie has revealed.
Tim Davie told the House of Lords' Communications and Digital Committee on Tuesday that the money, which spanned from Edwards' arrest in November until he resigned from the BBC in April, had not yet been returned. The director-general admitted the Edwards case had made him reflect on whether the BBC could have been more 'muscular' regarding the star's pay.
Mr Davie said: 'We've made the formal request, and I can't go into too much detail, but discussions are under way, but I've got no further news, apart from the BBC's position is clear, the money should be returned, and we made the request.' When asked about the Huw Edwards scandal, Mr Shah told the committee: 'There's nothing more important than public trust in the BBC, and we are custodians of that trust and what Huw Edwards did damaged the reputation and the trust for BBC so we take that very seriously indeed.
'These were very complicated decisions, and given the evidence available to them at the time, they made reasonable decisions based on the evidence. So we supported it, and we continue to support it.' In a note circulated to staff, Mr Shah said: 'On the face of it, he was a much-admired broadcaster with whom the BBC had entrusted the responsibility of anchoring its flagship news programme and presiding over national events but he betrayed the trust of staff and our audiences in the most egregious possible way.
Welsh police uncovered the broadcaster's crimes during a separate probe into a sex offender in Wales. Edwards is pictured in court Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has also urged Edwards to return his salary and asked the BBC to look into whether it can recoup money from his pay packet if does not give it back.
'BBC staff must be able to feel safe in the workplace and be confident that if non-editorial complaints are raised they will be acted upon and dealt with fairly and decisively.
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