19 December 2012
Last updated at 14:36 GMT
Nick Pollard's statement in full
There
was "chaos and confusion" at the BBC over a shelved report into sexual
abuse by Jimmy Savile, but there had been no cover-up, an inquiry has
found.
The
report dismissed claims the Newsnight probe was dropped to protect tribute shows to the late TV presenter.
A
separate report criticises a Newsnight programme which led to Tory peer Lord McAlpine being wrongly implicated in child abuse allegations.
The editor and deputy editor of Newsnight are to be replaced.
The Pollard Review was set up by the BBC to see if there were
management "failings" over the investigation, dropped by Newsnight in
December 2011.
The report by former head of Sky News Nick Pollard said: "The
decision to drop the original investigation was flawed and the way it
was taken was wrong but I believe it was done in good faith.
"It was not done to protect the Savile tribute programmes or for any improper reason."
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
David Sillito
Arts Correspondent
So no cover-up but it's still a bleak read for the BBC. "Chaos and confusion" is the damning verdict on BBC management.
"When clear leadership was required, it was not provided," states Nick Pollard. So there are very serious question to be asked.
But there are also fascinating details to be culled from the 10,000 emails on the topic.
I was startled reading passages on warnings in 2011 about
"the truth" of Jimmy Savile from someone who had worked with him and how
he felt "queasy" about the planned tributes programmes and also a
separate email warning about the late-presenter's "dark side".
It did not emerge that the
six-week investigation had been dropped by BBC TV's flagship current
affairs programme until October this year, just before ITV aired its own
programme on the allegations.
Mr Pollard said that the BBC's management system had "proved
completely incapable of dealing" with the issues raised by the axing of
the story, and that "the level of chaos and confusion was even greater
than was apparent at the time".
"Leadership and organisation seemed to be in short supply," he said.
Police are now aware of alleged abuse of hundreds of children
and young people over five decades by Savile, who died in October 2011,
aged 84.
The BBC aired tribute programmes to the late DJ and television presenter over Christmas and New Year.
The Pollard Review report revealed that Nick Vaughan-Barratt
, former
BBC head of events, had written to then-director of BBC Vision George
Entwistle in May 2011 saying he was "queasy" at the thought of an
obituary for Savile.
The email said Mr Vaughan-Barratt had seen "the real truth" about Savile, but was never read by Mr Entwistle, the report said.
'Clear failings'
Responding to the Pollard findings in an email to staff, BBC
acting director general Tim Davie said he was "pleased to say that the
review found no evidence of any improper pressure to prevent the
broadcast of the Newsnight investigation or to protect the Jimmy Savile
tribute programmes".
But he accepted that the "report exposed clear failings in some of our systems, the way we work together and make decisions".
Following the report's publication, it has been announced that:
- The resignation of deputy director of news Stephen Mitchell has
been accepted by the BBC, and he will leave the corporation next year
- Editor of Newsnight Peter Rippon will be replaced, and is in
talks with the BBC about a possible new role. In a statement, Mr Rippon
disputed that the decision to drop the Savile story had been flawed, but
said it was right that Newsnight had a "fresh start"
- Newsnight deputy editor Liz Gibbons is also being replaced and will move to a new role
- Head of BBC News Helen Boaden, who had stepped aside during the inquiry, will return to her post on Thursday
- Radio 5 live controller Adrian Van Klaveren will move to a new role
Culture Secretary Maria Miller said the report raised
"serious questions around editorial and management issues at the BBC",
and urged the corporation's governing body, the BBC Trust, to "help
tackle these".
"I also remind the Trust how vital it is to publish all
relevant evidence, as soon as possible, in order to re-build public
trust and confidence in the BBC," she said.
Continue reading the main story
JIMMY SAVILE INQUIRIES
- Operation Yewtree: Scotland Yard criminal investigation into sexual abuse claims against Savile and others linked to the presenter
- BBC investigation led by former Sky News head Nick Pollard into management failures over the dropping of Newsnight report about Savile
- BBC investigation led by former Appeal Court
judge Dame Janet Smith into corporation's culture and practices during
Savile's career and current child protection and whistle-blowing
policies
- BBC investigation led by Dinah Rose QC into handling of past sexual harassment claims
- Department of Health investigation into
its own conduct in appointing Savile to lead a "taskforce" overseeing
management of high security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor in 1988
- Director of Public Prosecutions review into decisions by the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute Savile in 2009
The Pollard Review, which cost £2m, involved the examination of 10,000 emails and detailed interviews with 19 individuals.
Ms Miller added: "It remains critical that we do not lose
sight of the most important issue in this - the many victims of sexual
abuse by Savile. I urge the BBC to now focus on the review into those
abuses, and ensure it is swift and transparent."
Meanwhile, the Trust also reported on the Newsnight film
broadcast on 2 November that led to former Conservative Treasury
minister Lord McAlpine being wrongly linked on the internet to child sex
abuse allegations.
The report did not name Lord McAlpine, but he was
subsequently wrongly linked by people writing on the internet with
allegations made in the programme.
The Trust said there had been a failure by Newsnight staff to
follow the BBC's own editorial guidelines over the report into child
abuse in a north Wales care home.
Mr Entwistle, director general by this time, resigned "in the
light of the unacceptable journalistic standards", and the BBC has paid
out £185,000 in libel damages to Lord McAlpine.
COPY http://www.bbc.co.uk/
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