BBC failed to pay charities £106,000
Published Date:
10 May 2008
By Angus Howarth
THE BBC has admitted failing to pay £106,000 to charity from phone votes to more than 20 programmes, including last year's UK Eurovision final.
For the first time, the BBC Trust has told the corporation to apologise on air for breach of trust. It has also asked the director-general to consider disciplinary action against a small number of BBC Worldwide staff.
The BBC said the money had now been paid, with interest, to the charities involved – Children In Need, Comic Relief and the Fame Academy bursary.
The problems, revealed in a report commissioned by the BBC, occurred between October 2005 and September last year.
The BBC chairman, Sir Michael Lyons, blamed "unacceptable behaviour from a small number of staff" for
what was part of a spate of scandals that has engulfed the BBC and the rest of the broadcasting industry.
Sir Michael said he was confident that they had uncovered the "full scale of the problem".
He said about "two dozen" programmes were affected, and admitted that number was "quite a lot". He said it was unlikely that other cases had yet to come to light.
The full article contains 195 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
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Last Updated:
09 May 2008 9:42 PM
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Source:
The Scotsman
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Location:
Edinburgh
