Why is the BBC keeping so many details of the Pollard Review under wraps?
As MPs continue to question aspects of this inquiry into the Jimmy Savile scandal, the Londoner has obtained via a Freedom of Information request the names of two comapanies paid thousands of pounds of public money that worked on the review but which have been concealed by the BBC until now.
The names of the two outfits? PR company Kreab Gavin Anderson, which was hired to take journalists’ calls, and Kroll Investigations, the private investigations agency.
The BBC declines to say exactly how much money each company was paid as part of the review carried out by former Sky news head Nick Pollard. He was asked to look into why Newsnight dropped its controversial report on Jimmy Savile.
Last month the BBC published a press release which was presented as a “full breakdown of all costs associated with the review” and asserted that it had cost “£2.4 million” exclusive of taxes and VAT. So the true figure was nearer to £3 million. The release contained the names of some but not all the firms which worked on the review.
At the time of the release’s publication the BBC was asked for a breakdown of every cost and company that worked on the inquiry. The BBC said this was confidential and refused to go beyond what the press release contained.
