Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the British Broadcasting Corporation regarding the investigation into allegations of sexist behaviour on MasterChef; and what was the (1) content, and (2) outcome, of those discussions.

The Secretary of State has spoken with the BBC leadership on this matter and wider workplace culture issues, to seek assurances that there are robust processes in place to deal with complaints.

The Secretary of State set out her view at the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on the 10th December that we are seeing too many of these cultures of silence and issues being swept under the rug across the sector.

In relation to the complaints against Gregg Wallace it is essential that staff and the wider public have confidence that the BBC takes these issues seriously, and it’s right that a thorough investigation has been launched by Baniijay, the production company behind MasterChef.

The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of the Government. The BBC is currently undertaking a workplace culture review, which must deliver clear and timely recommendations.