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| Alan Yentob steps down as BBC executive over Kids Company row | Alan Yentob steps down as BBC executive over Kids Company row |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Alan Yentob is to stand down from his senior management role at the BBC, saying the media coverage surrounding the Kids Company scandal has become a “serious distraction”. | Alan Yentob is to stand down from his senior management role at the BBC, saying the media coverage surrounding the Kids Company scandal has become a “serious distraction”. |
| Yentob, who is the corporation’s creative director, will stand down from the £183,000-a-year role later this month. | Yentob, who is the corporation’s creative director, will stand down from the £183,000-a-year role later this month. |
| “The BBC is going through particularly challenging times and I have come to believe that the speculation about Kids Company and the media coverage revolving around my role is proving a serious distraction,” said Yentob. | “The BBC is going through particularly challenging times and I have come to believe that the speculation about Kids Company and the media coverage revolving around my role is proving a serious distraction,” said Yentob. |
| Yentob said that he will contine to front BBC1’s Imagine series, for which he receives a further six-figure salary, and be involved in programme making and TV production at the corporation. | Yentob said that he will contine to front BBC1’s Imagine series, for which he receives a further six-figure salary, and be involved in programme making and TV production at the corporation. |
| “I have spoken to Tony Hall and told him that I think it best that I step down from my senior management role as creative director at the end of this year and focus on programme making and TV production – including of course the Imagine series,” he said. | “I have spoken to Tony Hall and told him that I think it best that I step down from my senior management role as creative director at the end of this year and focus on programme making and TV production – including of course the Imagine series,” he said. |
| Yentob will continue as chairman of BBC Films, an unpaid role, and will not be receiving any form of payoff for standing down as creative director. | Yentob will continue as chairman of BBC Films, an unpaid role, and will not be receiving any form of payoff for standing down as creative director. |
| “I love the BBC and will continue to do everything I can to ensure that it thrives and fulfills the great expectations we all have of it,” he said. | “I love the BBC and will continue to do everything I can to ensure that it thrives and fulfills the great expectations we all have of it,” he said. |
| Yentob had previously said that he would “not remotely consider” resigning over allegations he tried to influence the corporation’s coverage of the scandal-hit charity Kids Company, of which he was the chairman. | Yentob had previously said that he would “not remotely consider” resigning over allegations he tried to influence the corporation’s coverage of the scandal-hit charity Kids Company, of which he was the chairman. |
| Yentob has been accused of a conflict of interest after making a phone call to Newsnight ahead of a report on Kids Company, as well as accompanying the charity’s chief executive Camila Batmanghelidjh to an interview on Radio 4’s Today programme. | Yentob has been accused of a conflict of interest after making a phone call to Newsnight ahead of a report on Kids Company, as well as accompanying the charity’s chief executive Camila Batmanghelidjh to an interview on Radio 4’s Today programme. |
| Tony Hall, the director general of the BBC, reiterated that the corporation does not believe that he abused his position by influencing the BBC’s news coverage of the charity. | Tony Hall, the director general of the BBC, reiterated that the corporation does not believe that he abused his position by influencing the BBC’s news coverage of the charity. |
| “For the record, BBC News considered whether Alan Yentob had influenced the BBC’s journalism on the reporting of Kids Company,” said Hall. “They concluded that he did not. Despite that, I understand his reasons for stepping down as creative director. He has been thinking about this carefully for some time and we have discussed it privately on a number of occasions.” | “For the record, BBC News considered whether Alan Yentob had influenced the BBC’s journalism on the reporting of Kids Company,” said Hall. “They concluded that he did not. Despite that, I understand his reasons for stepping down as creative director. He has been thinking about this carefully for some time and we have discussed it privately on a number of occasions.” |
| Yentob had been known as the BBC’s “Mr Fixit”, helping steer the corporation through crises such as the Lord McAlpine and Jimmy Savile scandals. | Yentob had been known as the BBC’s “Mr Fixit”, helping steer the corporation through crises such as the Lord McAlpine and Jimmy Savile scandals. |
| But the ongoing fallout from the Kids Company scandal has made Yentob a liability at a time when it is facing tough negotiations with government over a renewal of its royal charter. | But the ongoing fallout from the Kids Company scandal has made Yentob a liability at a time when it is facing tough negotiations with government over a renewal of its royal charter. |
| Hall attempted to shift the focus away from the scandal for which Yentob will now perhaps be most remembered, pointing to his enormous contribution to the UK creative industries in an almost 50-year career at the BBC. | Hall attempted to shift the focus away from the scandal for which Yentob will now perhaps be most remembered, pointing to his enormous contribution to the UK creative industries in an almost 50-year career at the BBC. |
| “Alan is a towering figure in television, the arts, and a creative force for good for Britain,” he said. “He has served the BBC with distinction in a number of different executive roles – all of which have been characterised by his energy, creativity and commitment to public service. He has an extraordinary roll-call of achievement.” | “Alan is a towering figure in television, the arts, and a creative force for good for Britain,” he said. “He has served the BBC with distinction in a number of different executive roles – all of which have been characterised by his energy, creativity and commitment to public service. He has an extraordinary roll-call of achievement.” |
| Yentob has been at the BBC since 1968, been creative director for a decade and presented almost two dozen seasons of BBC1’s Imagine, building up a £6m-plus pension pot. | Yentob has been at the BBC since 1968, been creative director for a decade and presented almost two dozen seasons of BBC1’s Imagine, building up a £6m-plus pension pot. |
| In an interview last year, the 68-year-old referred to veterans such as himself and the 64-year-old Hall as “the oldies”. | In an interview last year, the 68-year-old referred to veterans such as himself and the 64-year-old Hall as “the oldies”. |
| “Tony and I are very close – I don’t feel there’s any topic we can’t raise with each other,” he said. | “Tony and I are very close – I don’t feel there’s any topic we can’t raise with each other,” he said. |
| The BBC is facing significant financial challenges following its licence fee deal with the government in July, which included taking on the £700m cost of free TV licences for the over-75s, and will not look to immediately replace Yentob. | The BBC is facing significant financial challenges following its licence fee deal with the government in July, which included taking on the £700m cost of free TV licences for the over-75s, and will not look to immediately replace Yentob. |
| However with the sudden departure of Danny Cohen, the BBC’s director of television, the corporation has now effectively lost two top TV executives in as many months. | However with the sudden departure of Danny Cohen, the BBC’s director of television, the corporation has now effectively lost two top TV executives in as many months. |
| The BBC Trust is investigating whether Yentob broke editorial guidelines over his involvement in the corporation’s reporting on Kids Company. | The BBC Trust is investigating whether Yentob broke editorial guidelines over his involvement in the corporation’s reporting on Kids Company. |
| On Tuesday, Rona Fairhead, the chair of the BBC Trust, told Radio 4’s Today programme that it was “absolutely critical” that editorial integrity was upheld at the corporation. | On Tuesday, Rona Fairhead, the chair of the BBC Trust, told Radio 4’s Today programme that it was “absolutely critical” that editorial integrity was upheld at the corporation. |
| By giving up his executive position Yentob will be removed from the BBC’s list of senior managers who are forced to publish a their expenses and gifts and hospitality each quarter. | |
| Yentob’s expenses claims have been a rich source of fodder for the media, even in the BBC’s current straitened times his most recent claim includes £1,500 on 75 cabs, prompting him to once retort that he could not do his job if he did not fly business class. | |
| In 2002, the BBC paid for an official fancy-dress party at Yentob’s Tudor mansion in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival. | |
| In 2004, Yentob was cleared of any wrongdoing following an investigation into his expense claims, but received a rap on the knuckles for taking “insufficient care over some aspects of his affairs”. |