BBC Trust

BBC Trust Chairman Rona Fairhead said:

"In February this year, Dame Janet Smith exposed shocking and appalling events stretching over several decades, which raised serious issues to be addressed today.

"The Trust committed to work with the BBC on behalf of all the victims – or survivors as many of them prefer to be described – and to ensure it acted on Dame Janet Smith’s findings and recommendations. Today, the BBC has set out the steps they have taken since then, and the steps that will continue to be taken in future. The Director-General is clear that this is not the end of the journey, a position the Trust fully supports.

"We will never forget the failures of the past and the horror of the abuse suffered by the victims of Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall. Preventing abuses and institutional failures of the kind recounted in the report requires constant vigilance, a strong and appropriate culture and robust policies that meet the highest possible standards for child protection, whistleblowing, and reporting and investigating complaints.

"The BBC owes it to the survivors and to everyone it works with or whose trust is placed in it, to make sure these events can never be repeated. The Trust welcomes and endorses the BBC’s report today and the clear commitment to this aim."