The BBC has left employees ‘dangling’ after they complain about misconduct by colleagues, the corporation’s chairman has said.
Giving his first major speech since he took up the role in March, Dr Samir Shah admitted there was a ‘sense that powerful people ‘get away with it’.
He said there needed to be more ‘visible’ steps taken when someone was found to have ‘crossed the line’ and the response needed to happen more ‘quickly’.
Dr Shah’s comments come in the wake of the Huw Edwards scandal which has sparked an independent review into the BBC’s workplace culture.
The BBC chairman, addressing industry figures in Leeds, said he was ‘determined to root out abuses of power’.
BBC Chairman Samir Shah admitted there was a ‘sense that powerful people ‘get away with it’ (Pictured during his first public speech since the appointment in Leeds, today)
The BBC is holding a Workplace Culture Review with a ‘particular focus on preventing abuse of power’ in the wake of a number of documented scandals (pictured: Huw Edwards)
He told the audience: ‘There have been and are concerns about unacceptable behaviour in the BBC.
‘I, and the BBC board, take this matter very seriously and are determined to root out abuses of power.’
He said there had been ‘significant progress’ in recent years, but added: ‘Nevertheless, there continues to be a sense that powerful people ‘get away with it’.
‘That people who have had the courage to complain are left dangling. That more visible action needs to be taken when someone is found to have crossed a line.
‘And frankly, for everything to be done a great deal quicker. We clearly need to do more. And the Workplace Culture Review currently underway will, I believe, help us move rapidly forward.’
As well as the Huw Edwards scandal which saw him plead guilty to possessing indecent images of children, there have been concerns about the treatment of contestants on Strictly Come Dancing. Jermaine Jenas was also sacked by the BBC for sending explicit texts.
Responding to questions after he delivered his speech, Dr Shah said he wanted the workplace culture review to deliver ‘action rather than yet another little proposal’.
He added that there needed to be ‘steps we can take quickly’ so that it can demonstrate to staff ‘we really care about this’.
Dr Shah said the corporation must ‘find a way in which people are kept informed’ after they complain.
In his speech, delivered at Leeds Conservatoire, he also called for decisions about the BBC’s level of funding to be ‘de-politicised’.
He said the amount of money the corporation gets should not be ‘at the mercy of the stroke of a Government minister’s pen’. He said this created a ‘risk of damaging perceptions around the independence of the BBC’.
The BBC boss called for measures to strengthen the BBC’s independence saying the corporation should be ‘wholly free of political pressure’.
He pointed to the way ministers decide how much the licence fee should rise by, adding that licence fee money first goes to the treasury before it gets to the BBC.
Dr Shah cited the way in 2010, the then Government decided the BBC licence fee should start funding the World Service.
He said: ‘Any idea that our finances are at the mercy of the stroke of a Government minister’s pen will always come with the risk of damaging perceptions around the independence of the BBC.
‘Of course, the BBC receives very considerable public money and must be accountable for how it is spent – that is beyond question. But whatever turns out to be the funding model of future, we need to de-politicise the decision making about the revenue raised.’
He said successive licence fee freezes and below inflation rises had ‘created a constant sense of jeopardy around BBC funding’.
The BBC boss also called for measures to strengthen the BBC’s independence in his speech
Dr Shah said the corporation must ‘find a way in which people are kept informed’ after they complain (PicturedL the BBC’s broadcasting house in June, file)
The chairman, who took up his role in March, did not definitively rule out mergers between public service broadcasters as he talked about increased collaboration between them in the face of competition from US streamers.
He said: ‘My call is to allow us to collaborate where we can and compete when it matters. We should be free to be innovative about what we can do and how we can meet the challenges.’
The BBC boss also said the corporation should not have to justify ‘our very existence’ every 10 years and the Government should have the confidence to say ‘the BBC is a really good thing’.
Dr Shah said: ‘In reality, it is possible that in January 2028 the BBC stops existing and the Government just sells off its assets.’
He added: ‘The Government should have the confidence in saying the BBC is a really good thing.’
In his speech, he also rounded on critics of the BBC who took a ‘perverse delight’ in ‘bashing’ the broadcaster.
He said while the BBC was an ‘extraordinary achievement’ by the British people, he added that ‘only here, with our pathological addiction to running ourselves down’ did we ‘call that into question’.
Dr Shah added: ‘Only here do we take a perverse delight in bashing our finest national institutions.
‘Only here are we prepared to throw the baby out with the bathwater.’
