BBC staff are said to be furious that disgraced newsreader Huw Edwards has still not repaid almost £200,000 in salary, despite repeated demands from bosses.
The corporation, which last week announced 155 job cuts as part of sweeping cost-saving measures, confirmed it has been unable to claw back any of the wages paid to Edwards between his arrest in November 2023 and his resignation five months later.
The 64-year-old, once the BBC’s highest-paid presenter, was handed a suspended prison sentence last year after admitting three counts of making indecent images of children. Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard Edwards was found with seven Category A images - the most serious classification - along with 12 Category B and 22 Category C files.
Despite the conviction, Edwards continued to receive his BBC salary for months. For the 2023/24 financial year, he was paid between £475,000 and £479,999. Bosses have formally demanded he repay the portion covering the months following his arrest, but insiders say not a penny has been returned.
“Everyone is raging about it,” a BBC source told The Sun. “Firstly at Huw, who is a disgrace, and secondly at gutless bosses who seem unwilling or unable to do anything about it.”
BBC chairman Dr Samir Shah admitted in March that Edwards’ refusal to return the money was “quite frustrating”. He told MPs: “We have obviously asked, and we’ve said it many times, but he seems unwilling. There was a moment that we thought he might just do the right thing for a change, then he decided not to. He could still do it. It’s not right - he’s taken licence fee payers’ money and he knew what he’d done.”
The BBC has also confirmed that it sought legal advice but has no further options to force repayment.
Edwards, who joined the BBC as a trainee in 1984 and went on to anchor flagship programmes including News at Ten, resigned in April 2024. At the height of his career he was the corporation’s most recognisable face and one of its most expensive stars.
His fall from grace followed a police investigation into his communications with convicted paedophile Alex Williams, who sent him indecent images of children between 2018 and 2021. Edwards pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years.
The scandal continues to cast a shadow over the BBC as it grapples with financial pressures and accusations of double standards. Staff who face redundancy are said to be particularly angered by the sight of a disgraced former star holding on to hundreds of thousands of pounds in salary.
The BBC reiterated in a statement: “Huw Edwards has not returned any money paid to him by the BBC after his arrest, in respect of any of his work for either BBC public service or the BBC’s commercial operations. The BBC has asked for all the money paid to Huw Edwards for the period November 2023 to April 2024 to be returned.”
The Standard has contacted BBC for comment.
