Culture Secretary Asks BBC If It Can Recover Money From Huw Edwards

Former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court where he was charged with three counts of making indecent images of children following a Metropolitan Police investigation, in London, England, on July 31, 2024. (Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has asked the BBC if it can recover money from Huw Edwards’s pay after the former news presenter pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children.

Following a meeting with BBC Director General Tim Davie on Thursday, the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) said that Nandy raised concerns about the BBC’s investigation into Edwards, the safeguards and processes that had followed, and “what further action may be taken, especially with regard to the handling of licence fee payers’ money.”

“The Culture Secretary is, like the whole nation, shocked by Huw Edwards’ abhorrent actions, and her thoughts are with the victims whose lives have been destroyed. It is now for the judiciary to decide on an appropriate sentence,” the DCMS said.

Speaking to BBC News about Edwards’s pension on Thursday night, Davie said that it was “very difficult to claw back, nigh on impossible,” adding, “These are unfortunately the specifics of how it works.”

“When it comes to pay, again, [it’s] legally challenging [to recover], but we’ll look at all options,” he said.

Edwards Should ‘Return His Salary’

The culture secretary raised the issue again on Friday, telling Sky News, “I think he ought to return his salary.”

Nandy continued: “I think having been arrested on such serious charges all the way back in November, to continue to receive that salary all the way through until he resigned is wrong and it’s not a good use of taxpayers’ money.

“I think most people in the country will agree with that but whether he does that or not is up to him.”

Edwards, who presented BBC News’s flagship programmes at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., resigned in April on medical grounds after having been suspended in July 2023 following unrelated allegations that he paid a young person for sexually explicit images.

At the time he resigned, Edwards was the UK’s highest-paid broadcaster. According to the BBC’s annual report, his pay bracket was £475,000 to £479,999 between April 2023 and April 2024, an increase of £40,000 on the previous financial year.

The salaries of BBC staff are funded primarily with the licence fee and members of the public must pay the £169.50 a year charge if they watch live television or BBC iPlayer.

BBC Knew About Arrest in November 2023

Edwards was arrested on Nov. 8, 2023, and on June 26 was charged with three counts of making indecent images of children.

The BBC’s director general defended the broadcaster’s decision not to fire Edwards, despite knowing the 62-year-old journalist had been arrested for the most serious category of indecent images of children.

BBC News’s David Sillito asked Davie why Edwards was not sacked, with the broadcast chief replying, “Because the police came to us and said they need to do their work in total confidence, [and said], ‘please keep this confidential.’”

Lisa Nandy at Dudley Town Hall  in Dudley, England, on March 08, 2020. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

“We thought long and hard about this. This wasn’t a kneejerk decision. When you think about this in terms of precedent, people do get arrested, and then we’ve had situations where [there are] no charges, and there’s nothing there to be followed up on,” Davie said.

“We knew it was serious, we knew no specifics, apart from the category of the potential offences,” he added.

Davie said that BBC bosses were unaware of the ages of the children in the videos and footage until charges were announced last week, saying that he and his colleagues were shocked.

“No-one knew about the specifics of what we heard over the last few days, which have been deeply disturbing,” he said.

Edwards Pleaded Guilty

The 62-year-old journalist had covered some of the country’s most high-profile stories including the death and funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II as well as fronting the broadcast of King Charles III’s coronation.

He was charged on June 26—though the charges and the fact of his November arrest were not disclosed until July 29—with three counts of making indecent images of children between December 2020 and April 2022. On Wednesday, the 62-year-old pleaded guilty.

Edwards was found to have had 41 indecent images on the messaging app WhatsApp, with seven being category A images—the most serious kind—mostly of children aged 13 to 15.

Also found on Edwards’s account were 12 category B images and 22 category C images. According to prosecutors, there were also moving images of a child aged around 7 to 9 years old.

Edwards will next appear in court for sentencing on Sept. 16 and faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

PA Media contributed to this report.