BBC: Dyson Report

Janet Daby Excerpts

Monday 24th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Whittingdale]

There is no question but that even before Lord Dyson’s report was published there was a widespread feeling that the culture in the BBC needed to change—that it was made up too much of people of the same mindset and the same background and from the same part of the world. That is something that I believe the new leadership—under the recently appointed chair, Richard Sharp, and the director-general—are aware of and intend to address.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab) [V]]

I am very grateful for this urgent question. In its response to Lord Dyson’s report, the BBC board has said that it will review and assess

“the robustness and independence of whistleblowing processes”.

How important does the Secretary of State consider independence on whistleblowing, including the protection of whistleblowers, to be?

[Mr Whittingdale]

I regard it as absolutely essential in not just the BBC but all public bodies. We need to make sure that, in future, if somebody blows the whistle and exposes malpractice in the BBC, the consequence is that somebody else gets fired, not that they do.