The Stage

BBC to investigate phone-ins after “grave mistakes”

Published Tuesday 29 May 2007 at 13:45 by Matthew Hemley

A review into the BBC’s use of premium rate phone-ins has been ordered by the BBC Trust following a series of complaints against Blue Peter and Saturday Kitchen.

The review will look at “how and when” the BBC uses premium rate phone lines and will be carried out by director of news and current affairs Ronald Neil.

In Saturday Kitchen, host James Martin misled viewers by asking them to call in with a question for guests, even though the show had been pre-recorded.

In another incident, he invited people to call in to win a place on the following week’s show, even though it was to be pre-recorded later that afternoon.

Blue Peter was criticised when it used a child visiting the show to pose as a caller for a competition after experiencing technical problems with its phone lines.

The BBC Trust said these “grave mistakes were compounded by serious errors of judgement”.

Chairman Michael Lyons said: “The public expectations of the BBC are rightly always high. When the BBC falls short of those expectations and breaches occur, it is not surprising the licence fee payer feels let down and disappointed.”

He said the review would be completed by the autumn, after which the trust will publish its findings.

The trust’s decision to commission a review comes after BBC director general Mark Thompson submitted his own report into the BBC’s use of premium rate phone-ins.

Following his report, Thompson said a pan-BBC Working Party led by controller of BBC1 Peter Fincham had been set up to review the issues around the BBC’s use of telephony and added that a senior editorial figure on every production would be formally nominated to oversee compliance in the use of premium rate services.