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The BBC has asked disgraced presenter Huw Edwards to hand back the £200,000 salary he earned after being arrested for having indecent images of children.
The corporation knew the 62-year-old presenter had been arrested last November but continued to pay his salary until he resigned on medical advice this April.
Edwards had been the BBC’s highest-paid newsreader, with its accounts putting him in a pay bracket of between £475,000 and £479,999 for 2023/24. This was a £40,000 pay rise from 2022/23, when he was paid between £435,000 and £439,999.
And the veteran broadcaster, who joined the BBC in 1984, is estimated to have received more than £200,000 pre-tax after his bosses knew of the allegations.
Today, BBC chairman Samir Shah said Edwards had ‘behaved in bad faith’ and the corporation believed he took his salary despite knowing he would plead guilty.
Former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards arriving at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on July 31
Huw Edwards arrives at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on July 31 for his court hearing
The BBC added that Edwards had ‘undermined trust in the BBC and brought us into disrepute’, but it has not confirmed whether legal action will be taken if he does not return the money.
A statement from the corporation today 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 22, 2024.’
BBC chairman Samir Shah (pictured) said presenter Huw Edwards had ‘behaved in bad faith’
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’.
It comes after Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy last week 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.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has asked the BBC to look into whether it can recoup money from Edwards’s pay packet after the former broadcaster admitted the charges on July 31
Director-general Tim Davie said the BBC could consider legal action to get back the salary
The BBC’s director-general Tim Davie also said that the corporation would consider legal action to get back some of his payments.
Edwards also could still retire on a BBC pension paying more than £300,000-a-year after he is thought to have been entitled to one paying two thirds of his final salary from the age of 60 – provided he never left the scheme.
On July 31, Edwards admitted at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to having indecent images of children, with seven of the 41 images being of the most serious type.
Mr Davie later defended his decision to employ Edwards until April, five months after he was told of Edwards’ arrest over the most serious category of indecent images of children.
Edwards resigned from the BBC in April ‘on the basis of medical advice from his doctors’ after unrelated allegations that he paid a young person for sexually-explicit photos. Police found no evidence of criminal behaviour in that matter.
Edwards will next appear in court on September 16.
