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| BBC's Tony Hall demands briefing on Peter Fincham's Crowngate payoff | BBC's Tony Hall demands briefing on Peter Fincham's Crowngate payoff |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The BBC director general is seeking more details of a previously undisclosed £500,000 payoff to a former BBC1 controller who resigned over the so-called "Crowngate" affair. | |
| Tony Hall has asked to be briefed on the circumstances of the payout to Peter Fincham, who resigned in October 2007 over a documentary trailer that misrepresented the Queen. | |
| The director general is expected to be told who was responsible for approving the severance payment and whether it went beyond the figure to which Fincham was contractually entitled. | The director general is expected to be told who was responsible for approving the severance payment and whether it went beyond the figure to which Fincham was contractually entitled. |
| Hall, who took over as director general four months ago, has described previous payouts to senior managers as an "institutional failing" in the face of mounting criticism from MPs. | |
| On Thursday, two MPs on the Commons public accounts select committee accused the corporation of "lurching from one disaster to another" and potentially misleading parliament over severance payments. | |
| Fincham, who is now ITV's director of television, wrongly told the press at a screening in July 2007 that the Queen walked out of a photoshoot featured in the documentary "in a huff". It later emerged that the promotional trailer had been misleadingly edited and that this was not the case. | Fincham, who is now ITV's director of television, wrongly told the press at a screening in July 2007 that the Queen walked out of a photoshoot featured in the documentary "in a huff". It later emerged that the promotional trailer had been misleadingly edited and that this was not the case. |
| He resigned in October 2007 after being one of a number of BBC managers criticised in a report into the saga that blamed "misjudgments, poor practice and ineffective systems" for the error. | He resigned in October 2007 after being one of a number of BBC managers criticised in a report into the saga that blamed "misjudgments, poor practice and ineffective systems" for the error. |
| Mark Thompson, who was three years into his term as director general at the time, accepted Fincham's resignation in a letter published by the BBC. "It is with real sadness that I accept your decision to resign," he said in the letter. "Your decision to take responsibility demonstrates the integrity and conviction which has characterised your leadership of BBC1." | Mark Thompson, who was three years into his term as director general at the time, accepted Fincham's resignation in a letter published by the BBC. "It is with real sadness that I accept your decision to resign," he said in the letter. "Your decision to take responsibility demonstrates the integrity and conviction which has characterised your leadership of BBC1." |
| Now the chief executive of New York Times Company, Thompson has been called before MPs on 9 September alongside other current and former BBC executives to account for a series of controversial six-figure payoffs. | Now the chief executive of New York Times Company, Thompson has been called before MPs on 9 September alongside other current and former BBC executives to account for a series of controversial six-figure payoffs. |
| The generous severance payments emerged in a National Audit Office report that revealed the BBC had spent £60m on payouts to outgoing executives in the past eight years. | The generous severance payments emerged in a National Audit Office report that revealed the BBC had spent £60m on payouts to outgoing executives in the past eight years. |
| The disclosure about Fincham's £500,000 payout is likely to renew MPs' determination to force the BBC to divulge the names of 150 senior managers who received severance payments in the three years to December 2012. The corporation refused a parliamentary order to release the details citing data protection and the broadcaster's independence from parliament. However, the BBC has agreed to name the executives who authorised the payoffs. | |
| The Tory MP Stewart Jackson, a member of the PAC, accused the BBC of potentially being in contempt of parliament by "wilfully refusing to recognise the fact that parliament has invoked a standing order that compels them to release this information". | |
| "The BBC are lurching from one disaster to another. Every week they seem to be rolling into a new scandal," he said. "In the first instance we want to establish the names of those given enhanced severance packages, who made the decisions and why, and what was the line of accountability." | |
| Another member of the influential Commons committee, the Tory MP Justin Tomlinson, said MPs were growing "increasingly concerned about the complete lack of control over severance payments at a time when the BBC is having to make very difficult savings to frontline productions". | |
| He added: "They were shelling out severance payments well above and beyond what they were legally and contractually obliged to. We are determined to dig further to find out the full extent of what has gone on. Should the BBC choose not to engage, then how on earth can they learn the lessons to make sure this isn't repeated time and time again?" | |
| The BBC declined to comment specifically on the severance payment to Fincham, but said in a statement: "Whilst the BBC does not publicly discuss individual contracts, the BBC director general Tony Hall has asked for a detailed briefing about the facts of this reported case as soon as possible." | |
| A spokesman for Fincham said: "He is not in a position to comment." | A spokesman for Fincham said: "He is not in a position to comment." |
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