BBC asks Huw Edwards to return £200,000 he was paid after arrest

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.

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.

Mr Shah has said it was ‘a shock to discover that Huw Edwards was living a double life’, in a note sent to staff at the corporation.

The message said: ‘On the face of it, he was a much-admired broadcaster with whom the BBC had entrusted the responsibility of anchoring its flagship news programme and presiding over national events but he betrayed the trust of staff and our audiences in the most egregious possible way.

‘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.’

The note continued: ‘Whilst I was not chair when the BBC was first alerted to Mr Edwards’ behaviour and the consequent actions taken, I – and the board – have now had detailed accounts from BBC executives about what happened.

‘The executive had to navigate a very difficult and complex situation on two fronts: the complaints made by colleagues and others and, separately, the police investigation into Mr Edwards’ criminal behaviour. 

‘In the light of what was known at the time, the decisions taken by the director-general and his team following Mr Edwards’ arrest were well considered and reasonable.

‘Of course hindsight can always suggest alternative actions, but unfortunately, hindsight was not available at the time. 

‘It was a balancing of considerations and an evaluation of the known facts that determined the course of action.’ 

And 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.’

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.

Today, Ms Nandy said she welcomes the BBC’s decision to launch an independent review following the Huw Edwards case.

She added: ‘Public trust in the BBC is essential, and so I welcome the BBC’s decision to launch an independent review into the culture within the organisation following the Huw Edwards case and his abhorrent actions.

‘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.’

Edwards also could still retire on a BBC pension paying more than £300,000-a-year. He is thought to have been entitled to a pension paying two thirds of his final salary from the age of 60. 

In an interview with BBC News on August 1, its director-general Time Davie defended Edwards’s pay rise, saying it was made up of an ‘inflationary increase’ and work the presenter did at the BBC in February 2023 before any allegations were made.

Mr Davie also said in the same interview that the corporation would ‘look at all options’ in trying to reclaim pay from Edwards after the revelations, but ruled out doing the same for his pension due to legal reasons.

The BBC previously said after Edwards’ guilty plea that if he had been charged while he was still an employee it would have sacked him, but at the point of charge he no longer worked for the corporation.

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.

The court heard he had been involved in an online chat with an adult man on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021, who sent him 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children. 

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.