The BBC has admitted that it failed its own staff and had been “too deferential to high-profile individuals” after an independent review of its oversight of former DJ Tim Westwood’s conduct at the broadcaster.
In response to the review, the BBC board said that it “fell short and failed people — including our own staff — who had a right to expect better from us” given evidence of “bullying and misogynistic behaviour” by Westwood.
The broadcaster said that it was now clear that “there were times where the BBC, on learning about concerns regarding Mr Westwood’s behaviour, did not take adequate action”.
The BBC on Tuesday published the findings of a £3.3mn review carried out by Gemma White KC into what the broadcaster knew about Westwood’s conduct as a Radio 1 and 1Xtra DJ between 1994 and 2013, as well as how it responded.
The review showed that not only had it been too siloed “but too deferential to high-profile individuals”, it admitted. The broadcaster’s board said that “abuse of power” was an area where the BBC continued to have concerns, and where the executive leadership must do better.
The BBC has been forced to respond to a series of scandals involving well-paid and high-profile presenters, including Huw Edwards and Russell Brand, that have exposed failings in its internal systems of complaints and management.
The White review looked at allegations over Westwood’s behaviour towards female fans, as well as allegations and concerns about bullying and harassment of BBC production staff.
It found that these allegations were treated in isolation rather than being dealt with together, which means that the broadcaster failed to spot patterns of behaviour. The review, which was commissioned in 2022, cost £3.3mn.
The police have also launched an investigation into the DJ. Westwood has always strongly denied all allegations of inappropriate behaviour or wrongdoing. According to the BBC’s review, Westwood’s solicitors made it clear to the report’s author that he denied the allegations of criminal and other misconduct.
The BBC has introduced a number of measures to try to improve its response following the scandals, including a specialist case management process to consider the most serious allegations and concerns raised, an anti-bullying and harassment policy and efforts to centralise and standardise its complaints processes.
The broadcaster last year started a review into workplace culture, focusing on “preventing abuse of power and ensuring everyone at the BBC conducts themselves in line with our values”.