BBC asks Huw Edwards to give back salary earned after November arrest
BBC presenter Huw Edwards has been asked by the corporation to pay back part of his salary, as ITV News Entertainment Reporter Rishi Davda explains
Disgraced BBC presenter Huw Edwards has been asked by the corporation to return part of his salary, after pleading guilty to making indecent images of children.
It was revealed Edwards was paid an estimated £200,000 in the period between his arrest in November on three counts of making indecent images of children, and his resignation five months later.
It comes after Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy asked the BBC to look into whether it can recoup the earnings.
There will also be an independent review into the organisation's workplace culture, which the Culture Secretary said she welcomes.
On Friday, Edwards also resigned from two honorary positions at the Welsh universities of Cardiff, Swansea and York St John.
A plaque at Cardiff Castle commemorating the opening of its Interpretation Centre by Edwards and an audio guide featuring his voice have both been removed.
Bafta said it is also reviewing its individual presenter prizes awarded to Edwards between 2002 to 2017 but said awards won by the BBC when he covered royal events will remain.
Before Edwards resigned from the BBC on medical advice in April, 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.
A statement from the corporation said Edwards had “undermined trust in the BBC and brought us into disrepute”.
It 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 22 April 2024”.
The statement went on to say: “Today, the Board has authorised the Executive to seek the return of salary paid to Mr Edwards from the time he was arrested in November last year.
"Mr Edwards pleaded guilty to an appalling crime. Had he been up front when asked by the BBC about his arrest, we would never have continued to pay him public money. He has clearly undermined trust in the BBC and brought us into disrepute.”
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”.
In response, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said that public trust in the BBC is essential and that she welcomes the organisation's decision to launch an independent review into its culture.
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She said: “The BBC is a hugely valued and important player in the public service broadcasting landscape that reaches millions every day and it is vital that the public has complete trust and faith in the organisation and in how it is run.
“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.
“The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of the Government, however I have spoken to the BBC chair in the past week to convey these points in the interests of the public.”
BBC chairman Samir Shah said it was a "shock to discover that Huw Edwards was living a double life."
In a note to staff, he said: “Let me be clear: the villain of this piece is Huw Edwards; the victims are those children for whose degradation Huw Edwards provided a market for."
Edwards admitted three charges of making indecent photographs of children after he was sent 377 sexual images - 41 of which were illegal - by convicted paedophile Alex Williams, with seven being of the most serious type.
The bulk of these, 36, were sent during a two-month period.
On February 2 2021, the male asked whether what he was sending was too young, in response to which Edwards told him not to send any under-age images, the court heard in July.
The indecent images that were sent included seven category A, the worst, 12 category B, and 22 category C.
Edwards was bailed and will be sentenced at Westminster Magistrates' Court on September 16.
In a separate matter, last year Edwards was named as the high profile presenter at the centre of allegations he paid a young person for sexually explicit photos. He then resigned from the BBC "on the basis of medical advice from his doctors".
However, police found no evidence of criminal behaviour in relation to this.
During his four decades at the corporation, he was among the broadcasting teams leading coverage of historic events including the late Queen’s funeral in 2022 and most recently the coronation of the King in May 2023.
Edwards, a married father of five, also announced the late Queen’s death on the BBC in September 2022.
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