The BBC has spent about £1.3 million on costs associated with the Huw Edwards scandal, figures show – but the findings of its own internal inquiry have never been published.
These costs include more than £340,000 on advice from external lawyers about the former News At Ten presenter’s employment at the Corporation.
A large part of the spend went on a review, carried out by Deloitte, into the BBC’s ‘polices and processes’ for ‘non-editorial complaints’, triggered by allegations Edwards paid a young person for explicit images.
The figures, which have emerged in a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Financial Times, cover the period between October 2023 to the end of September 2024.
Edwards was suspended from the BBC in July 2023 over the original allegations.
He was then arrested in November of that year over separate allegations relating to indecent pictures of children. He resigned in April 2024 citing ‘medical advice’.
The presenter pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children last July and was subsequently given a six-month suspended prison sentence.
Amid the crisis the BBC faced repeated calls to make public what its own investigation into Edwards’ behaviour had revealed. But the corporation refused to make public this information.
Costs incurred include more than £340,000 on advice from external lawyers about the former News At Ten presenter’s (pictured) employment at the Corporation
Edwards was suspended from the BBC in July 2023 over the allegations Edwards paid a young person for explicit images
The money spent dealing with the Edwards scandal, follows the recent revelation that the corporation paid £3.3 million on an external report into allegations about the behaviour of former presenter Tim Westwood.
According to the Freedom of Information request, the BBC spent £340,843 on external legal fees relating to advice about the situation with Edwards.
The ‘non-editorial complaints review’ led by Deloitte cost £958,133, while there were costs of £70,000 to provide additional resources to the BBC Corporate Investigations Team.
There has been controversy over the fact that Edwards was paid £200,000 between his arrest in November 2023 and his departure in April the following year.
A corporation source pointed out that the non-editorial complaints review, which makes up the bulk of the costs, was not an investigation specifically into Huw Edwards.
The BBC has repeatedly tried to get the Welsh presenter to return the money he earned between his arrest and his departure, with the corporation’s chairman, Samir Shah, saying last week ‘we’ve obviously asked, and we’ve said it many times, but he seems unwilling’.
Corporation bosses also commissioned an independent review of the BBC’s ‘workplace culture’, following the Huw Edwards revelations. It has brought in management consultants Change Associates to do this work.
Huw Edwards leaves Westminster Magistrates’ Court on July 31, 2024 in London
The BBC is also carrying out an internal review into the hugely controversial Gaza documentary which was narrated by the son of a Hamas official.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘Wherever possible we aim to resolve matters without external support, and the decision to commission any review or work by a third-party is taken with careful consideration, based on the specific circumstances in each case.
‘We only incur external legal costs when absolutely necessary.’
