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| BBC payoff row: Trust faces probe by MPs amid reports of plans to switch off | BBC payoff row: Trust faces probe by MPs amid reports of plans to switch off |
| (10 days later) | |
| The role of the BBC Trust will be put under the spotlight at Monday's hotly anticipated parliamentary hearing, in which the main players in the bitter row about the corporation's redundancy payoffs will come face to face. | The role of the BBC Trust will be put under the spotlight at Monday's hotly anticipated parliamentary hearing, in which the main players in the bitter row about the corporation's redundancy payoffs will come face to face. |
| Amid reports that ministers are planning to axe the BBC Trust and hand responsibility for governance of the corporation to media regulator Ofcom, MPs on the Commons public accounts committee (PAC) will attempt to get to the bottom of who knew what and when about controversial settlements, including the former deputy director general Mark Byford's £1m payoff. | Amid reports that ministers are planning to axe the BBC Trust and hand responsibility for governance of the corporation to media regulator Ofcom, MPs on the Commons public accounts committee (PAC) will attempt to get to the bottom of who knew what and when about controversial settlements, including the former deputy director general Mark Byford's £1m payoff. |
| Margaret Hodge, the PAC chair, and fellow MPs on the committee will challenge conflicting accounts given by former BBC director general Mark Thompson and Lord Patten, the trust's chairman, when they appear on Monday afternoon. | Margaret Hodge, the PAC chair, and fellow MPs on the committee will challenge conflicting accounts given by former BBC director general Mark Thompson and Lord Patten, the trust's chairman, when they appear on Monday afternoon. |
| Patten said he was unaware of the full details of Byford's settlement at an earlier PAC hearing in July and urged the committee to seek answers from Thompson. The former director general, now chief executive of the New York Times Company, has hit back by accusing Patten of telling "specific untruths and inaccuracies" to the PAC. | Patten said he was unaware of the full details of Byford's settlement at an earlier PAC hearing in July and urged the committee to seek answers from Thompson. The former director general, now chief executive of the New York Times Company, has hit back by accusing Patten of telling "specific untruths and inaccuracies" to the PAC. |
| However, the hearing on the payoffs row, coming after the Jimmy Savile scandal, will undoubtedly prompt further questions about the BBC Trust's role as regulator of and cheerleader for the corporation. | However, the hearing on the payoffs row, coming after the Jimmy Savile scandal, will undoubtedly prompt further questions about the BBC Trust's role as regulator of and cheerleader for the corporation. |
| A Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) source played down a Sunday newspaper report that it plans to hand the BBC Trust's regulatory duties over to Ofcom when the corporation's royal charter is renegotiated. But the BBC Trust's role will be up for review as part of the charter renewal process. | A Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) source played down a Sunday newspaper report that it plans to hand the BBC Trust's regulatory duties over to Ofcom when the corporation's royal charter is renegotiated. But the BBC Trust's role will be up for review as part of the charter renewal process. |
| A DCMS spokesman said: "The current BBC charter runs until 2016. The charter review offers an opportunity for parliament to look at the way in which the BBC operates and how licence fee money is spent." Negotiations between the DCMS and the BBC about charter renewal are likely to begin in earnest next year and be concluded by 2016, ahead of the new 10-year agreement setting out the corporation's scope and remit from 2017. | A DCMS spokesman said: "The current BBC charter runs until 2016. The charter review offers an opportunity for parliament to look at the way in which the BBC operates and how licence fee money is spent." Negotiations between the DCMS and the BBC about charter renewal are likely to begin in earnest next year and be concluded by 2016, ahead of the new 10-year agreement setting out the corporation's scope and remit from 2017. |
| Any change to BBC's governance and regulation would require primary legislation. It has been suggested that there could be a single BBC board, including the director general and other senior executives, headed by a non-executive chairman and featuring non-executive directors. Regulatory responsibilities would be handed to Ofcom, which performs a similar function for commercial broadcasters including ITV and Channel 4. | Any change to BBC's governance and regulation would require primary legislation. It has been suggested that there could be a single BBC board, including the director general and other senior executives, headed by a non-executive chairman and featuring non-executive directors. Regulatory responsibilities would be handed to Ofcom, which performs a similar function for commercial broadcasters including ITV and Channel 4. |
| Appearing alongside Thompson and Patten at the PAC will be Marcus Agius, former chairman of the BBC executive board remuneration committee, BBC trustee Anthony Fry, former trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons, Lucy Adams, the outgoing HR director, and Nicholas Kroll, the trust's director. | Appearing alongside Thompson and Patten at the PAC will be Marcus Agius, former chairman of the BBC executive board remuneration committee, BBC trustee Anthony Fry, former trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons, Lucy Adams, the outgoing HR director, and Nicholas Kroll, the trust's director. |
| The hearing is likely to pit Thompson against most of the other witnesses, who will be sitting alongside each other when they go before the committee. "If they are going to accuse each other of lying, they are going to have to do it to each others' faces," a committee source said on Friday. | The hearing is likely to pit Thompson against most of the other witnesses, who will be sitting alongside each other when they go before the committee. "If they are going to accuse each other of lying, they are going to have to do it to each others' faces," a committee source said on Friday. |
| At the heart of the extraordinary public spat is a series of communications between Thompson and the trust in September and October 2010, about proposed redundancy settlements for Byford and Sharon Baylay, the ex-director of marketing, who left with £390,000. | At the heart of the extraordinary public spat is a series of communications between Thompson and the trust in September and October 2010, about proposed redundancy settlements for Byford and Sharon Baylay, the ex-director of marketing, who left with £390,000. |
| Thompson has claimed Lyons and Kroll were aware of the full details of the proposed settlements and that Patten, who replaced Lyons in May 2011, was also briefed on Byford and Baylay's payoffs. Lyons and Patten have denied that they knew. | Thompson has claimed Lyons and Kroll were aware of the full details of the proposed settlements and that Patten, who replaced Lyons in May 2011, was also briefed on Byford and Baylay's payoffs. Lyons and Patten have denied that they knew. |
| In a submission to the committee published on Friday, Thompson accused Patten and Fry of "fundamentally misleading" MPs when they appeared before the PAC on 10 July to discuss BBC payoffs. "The insinuation that they were kept in the dark by me or anyone else is false and is not supported by the evidence." | In a submission to the committee published on Friday, Thompson accused Patten and Fry of "fundamentally misleading" MPs when they appeared before the PAC on 10 July to discuss BBC payoffs. "The insinuation that they were kept in the dark by me or anyone else is false and is not supported by the evidence." |
| Thompson also claimed that evidence he provided to the PAC showed Patten was wrong to tell MPs he didn't know about crucial details of settlements made with Byford and Baylay. | Thompson also claimed that evidence he provided to the PAC showed Patten was wrong to tell MPs he didn't know about crucial details of settlements made with Byford and Baylay. |
| "In fact, Lord Patten was himself fully briefed, in writing as well as orally, about the Mark Byford and Sharon Baylay settlements soon after his arrival as chairman in 2011," wrote Thompson. | "In fact, Lord Patten was himself fully briefed, in writing as well as orally, about the Mark Byford and Sharon Baylay settlements soon after his arrival as chairman in 2011," wrote Thompson. |
| Lyons has indicated that the BBC Trust only saw one document, a memo sent by Thompson on 7 October 2010, that summarised the Byford deal and described the seven-figure sum as in line with his contractual entitlement. | Lyons has indicated that the BBC Trust only saw one document, a memo sent by Thompson on 7 October 2010, that summarised the Byford deal and described the seven-figure sum as in line with his contractual entitlement. |
| "I do not think I was ever told the full, final, terms of the deal," Lyons said on Friday. He claimed Thompson had told him at the time: "I want as many fingerprints on this as possible." | "I do not think I was ever told the full, final, terms of the deal," Lyons said on Friday. He claimed Thompson had told him at the time: "I want as many fingerprints on this as possible." |
| Byford's £1m deal, which has long proved a lightning rod for controversy about senior pay at the BBC, was found not to have been in the best interests of licence fee payers in a National Audit Office report published in July. | Byford's £1m deal, which has long proved a lightning rod for controversy about senior pay at the BBC, was found not to have been in the best interests of licence fee payers in a National Audit Office report published in July. |
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