Huw Edwards still too unwell to respond to BBC investigation seven months on
Huw Edwards remains too unwell to respond to the BBC investigation into his conduct it emerged, as the corporation apologised for the mishandling of the original complaint.
The former chief news presenter, 62, has not been interviewed to address the evidence gathered by investigators since the scandal broke last year. And after seven months off air, BBC bosses must now decide whether they can conclude their probe without hearing from him, in order to get on with naming his replacement.
Huw, who was suspended on full pay of over £435,000 last July, is not expected to return to the BBC. His disappearance from the screen was sparked by a complaint from the parents of a 19-year-old who claimed Edwards had paid around £30,000 for inappropriate images of the youngster.
Speaking via lawyers at the time, the young person at the centre of the controversy insisted to BBC News that reports about what has happened were “rubbish”. “For the avoidance of doubt, nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality,” they said.
But today the BBC said it had apologised to the couple who approached them last May, following a review into how non-editorial complaints are handled. At the time, BBC staff trying to verify the complaint had emailed and phoned but had received no response. A review, ordered in the wake of the scandal, found a need for “greater consistency” in how BBC complaints are processed, involving greater speed and a need for senior management to be informed earlier.
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Huw Edwards is reportedly too unwell to help with the BBC investigation (PA)In the grievance raised against Huw, BBC senior leadership only knew about it nine weeks later, in July. Today BBC group chief operating officer Leigh Tavaziva said the review, conducted by Deloitte, had highlighted where improvements could be made.
"Although our existing processes and systems are, on the whole, working effectively, this review shows that we need to join them up better to ensure no matter how a non-editorial complaint comes into the BBC it is escalated swiftly, when needed, and dealt with by the right people.
"Where the review identifies process improvements we accept those in full, and we are delivering on an action plan with a number of enhancements already in place. The report identifies specific process shortcomings in the presenter case. The initial complaint in this case was not escalated quickly enough to senior management and we have apologised to the complainant for this.”
The scandal surrounding Huw was compounded after it emerged other complaints against him, from inside the BBC, were also being investigated by his newsroom colleague Victoria Derbyshire.
Edwards has not worked for the BBC since his wife, Vicky Flind, revealed he was the BBC presenter at the centre of the scandal last summer. At the time she said he’d been admitted to hospital where he would receive care, adding that he “intends to respond” to the allegations once he had recovered. It is not clear whether the father-of-five remains in hospital.
At the time she said: “Huw is suffering from serious mental health issues. As is well documented, he has been treated for severe depression in recent years. The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters, he has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he’ll stay for the foreseeable future.”
TV star Edwards regularly fronts the biggest news occasions including elections and royal weddings and funerals. When complaints of this type are made against BBC staff, the normal protocol is that they respond to the evidence gathered in the form of a right-to-reply interview. In this case, there has not been any response from Huw, meaning that the investigation has stalled.
But with a busy news schedule in 2024, including a general election and the Paris Olympics, there is now intense pressure to name his replacement as lead anchor on big events and News at Ten, and the BBC may yet decide to make its own judgement in a bid to draw a line under the scandal in the coming weeks.
It has been reported that Clive Myrie is the favourite to lead the BBC’s election coverage with others in the running including Sophie Raworth and Laura Kuenssberg. After the scandal emerged, director general Tim Davie ordered two investigations - one into the BBC’s complaints procedures, and the other into the facts of what had taken place.
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