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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Mark Byford: £1m BBC payoff 'not greed' | Mark Byford: £1m BBC payoff 'not greed' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Mark Byford, the former deputy director general of the BBC, has defended a controversial pay-off package that saw him leave the BBC with £949,000. | Mark Byford, the former deputy director general of the BBC, has defended a controversial pay-off package that saw him leave the BBC with £949,000. |
| He told BBC Radio 5 Live's Victoria Derbyshire: "I absolutely don't think it was greed on my part at all". | He told BBC Radio 5 Live's Victoria Derbyshire: "I absolutely don't think it was greed on my part at all". |
| Byford left the BBC in 2011 after being made redundant as part of a drive to cut the number of highly-paid senior executives at the BBC. | |
| He side-stepped questions about paying any of the money back. | He side-stepped questions about paying any of the money back. |
| He said the payoff was "properly approved" and added: "I absolutely think I've done no wrong." | He said the payoff was "properly approved" and added: "I absolutely think I've done no wrong." |
| A report by the National Audit Office (NAO), released in July this year, criticised the BBC for paying out £25m in severance to 150 outgoing senior BBC managers - £2m more than their contracts stipulated. | |
| Byford's payment was revealed to be the highest at £949,000, after 32 years of service at the BBC. | Byford's payment was revealed to be the highest at £949,000, after 32 years of service at the BBC. |
| Byford, speaking to Derbyshire during an interview to promote his new book, admitted it was a large sum but said that he had not wanted to leave the corporation. | Byford, speaking to Derbyshire during an interview to promote his new book, admitted it was a large sum but said that he had not wanted to leave the corporation. |
| "I lost my job, I was made redundant, I left when I was told to leave by the BBC. After 32 years of working there I was devoted to the corporation," said Byford. | "I lost my job, I was made redundant, I left when I was told to leave by the BBC. After 32 years of working there I was devoted to the corporation," said Byford. |
| "It was a lot of money and it was in a context that I was the number two at the BBC and I'd served more than 30 years there. | |
| "It was in a context of being made redundant in a very big cull of senior management. I felt very strongly myself that it should touch every level including right at the very top." | |
| He continued: "I didn't want to go, I loved my job but I absolutely understood that if it [redundancy] touched me I would accept it." | |
| 'Value for money' | 'Value for money' |
| When Byford left the BBC in 2011 his pay-off was made up of 12 months' salary worth £474,500, with a further £474,500 pay in lieu of notice, despite the fact that he had stayed on to work on coverage of the Olympics and the Royal Wedding. | |
| He also received £73,000 for holiday he had not used since 2004. | |
| Former director general Mark Thompson, who oversaw Byford's payment, was questioned about the issue by MPs on the Public Accounts Committee in September this year. | |
| He told them that Byford's payoff had represented "value for money" and denied current director general Tony Hall's claims that the BBC had "lost its way". | He told them that Byford's payoff had represented "value for money" and denied current director general Tony Hall's claims that the BBC had "lost its way". |
| Since taking up the job in April Lord Hall has introduced a cap on BBC severance payments of £150,000. | Since taking up the job in April Lord Hall has introduced a cap on BBC severance payments of £150,000. |
| When asked by Derbyshire if he deserved his payout, Byford said it was what had been approved by the "appropriate body" at the BBC, the remuneration committee. | |
| "I wasn't there, I took no part in it and I was given what I was given," he said. | |
| He added that he had not entered into any salary negotiations "since the day I joined the BBC aged 20 on a holiday job." | |
| Savile allegations | |
| In September, former BBC chairman Lord Grade defended Mark Byford's pay-off during an interview on BBC Newsnight, and said he was a "great asset to the BBC". | |
| Lord Grade also suggested that Byford could have prevented recent crises at the BBC, including the failure to broadcast a Panorama investigation into sex abuse allegations against Jimmy Savile. | |
| However on Tuesday, Byford told Derbyshire it was impossible to say whether he would have handled things differently. | |
| "I don't think you or I can answer that with any sense of accuracy or insight, because I wasn't there," said Byford. | |
| "As part of my responsibilities [as ....of journalism at the BBC] the most complex and sensitive editorial issues would land on my desk. Whether those things would have been handled in a different way you just can't say." | |
| Byford also denied that he had ever heard rumours about Jimmy Savile during his career at the BBC. | |
| "I started at the BBC in 1979 at BBC Leeds, his home city, my home area of West Yorkshire. As you said, I stayed in the BBC for 32 years. I never heard any of those rumours or anecdotes or claims about sexual abuse on BBC premises," said Byford. | |
| He continued: "Obviously I'm as horrified, disgusted as any other individual or employee at what happened. Obviously the first and primary concern is about the victims of that abuse. | |
| "It's absolutely horrific. The BBC has got to learn those lessons and ensure that that kind of behaviour and incident can never ever happen again." |