Commons committee wants tighter BBC audits

An influential House of Commons committee has said stricter outside auditing would make the BBC manage risks, such as journalists working abroad, more carefully.

The public accounts committee referred to the abduction of Alan Johnston in Gaza and the Blue Peter fakery scandal when suggesting the corporation could improve its risk procedures.

And it recommended the National Audit Office should have full rights to inspect the BBC as it does other public bodies.

A statement to Parliament from the cross-party group said: "While the BBC had identified the safety of staff around the world as a key risk it faced, it was not reflected explicitly in the BBC's top risk themes.

"The BBC should update its assessments of the risks of working in hostile environments. The BBC should also satisfy itself that freelancers, as well as its employees, are adequately trained for work which could involve risks to their health and safety."

And chairman Edward Leigh added: "The BBC's management of that risk would undoubtedly be much stronger if the National Audit Office (NAO) were given the same independent rights of access to the Corporation as it enjoys to other bodies funded by the public."

However, the BBC Trust defended the corporation. It said the NAO had judged its risk management framework to be "adequate".

A spokesman said: "The Trust is confident that the BBC management team is vigilant in monitoring and taking appropriate action to mitigate the necessary risks that some BBC journalists face when doing their jobs to provide independent and accurate reporting."