New BBC director-general to face grilling from MPs
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The BBC’s new director-general is to face his first grilling from MPs since taking over the job.
Tim Davie will appear before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee on Tuesday at 10am alongside BBC chairman Sir David Clementi.
He will face questions on a number of issues facing the corporation including its cost-cutting plans and the likely impact of the proposed decriminalisation of the non-payment of the licence fee.
Mr Davie will also be asked about salaries paid to on-air employees and senior managers after they were revealed earlier this month.
Other BBC bosses including chief operating officer Glyn Isherwood and policy director Clare Sumner will also appear before the committee, chaired by Conservative MP Julian Knight.
Mr Davie succeeded Lord Tony Hall as director-general at the beginning of the month.
He was acting director-general for four months following George Entwistle’s resignation in November 2012, before Lord Hall’s appointment, and previously served as the chief executive of BBC Studios.
After taking over the job, Mr Davie said the BBC cannot be “complacent” about its future and must “renew” its commitment to impartiality.
The BBC has found itself at loggerheads with the Government following rows over the lyrics of songs performed during the Last Night Of The Proms and licence fee rules for the over-75s.
According to a report in The Sunday Times, former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre is Boris Johnson’s preferred candidate to become chairman of the broadcast regulator Ofcom.
The move would see Mr Dacre, who was critical of the BBC during his editorship of the newspaper, oversee regulation of the broadcaster.
