Ross suspended for 12 weeks
- Published: 30 October 2008 18:37
- Author: Katherine Rushton
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- Last Updated: 30 October 2008 19:14
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The BBC has suspended Jonathan Ross for 12 weeks without pay - but warned that the consequences for managers will be "more serious".
Ross will keep his job but stands to lose more than £1.3 million in pay before he returns in mid-January.
Director general Mark Thompson issued a statement this evening saying that Ross' contribution to the "Sachsgate" scandal was "utterly unacceptable" but indicated he will not be sacked for over the incident.
He described the suspension as "an exceptional step, but [one] I believe is a proportionate response to Jonathan's role in this unhappy affair."
"Jonathan Ross has already made a comprehensive and unreserved personal apology to Andrew Sachs and his granddaughter. I believe that he fully understands the seriousness of what has happened.
"I have made very clear to him the central importance of the clause in his contract about not bringing the BBC into disrepute. We agree that nothing like this must ever happen again and that tight discipline will be required for the future."
BBC staff can expect more severe penalties however. "The ultimate editorial responsibility for BBC programmes lies with producers and editorial managers.
"The consequences of errors of judgement are therefore more serious for managers," Thompson said, indicating that sackings or resignations could be imminent.
The statement was issued moments after BBC Radio 2 boss Lesley Douglas stepped down from her role, saying that she took responsibility for the scandal and that the decision to leave was her own. Brand resigned from the corporation yesterday.
Thompson also pledged to carry out an immediate and comprehensive review of the BBC's editorial compliance procedures, and a separate study into where the "appropriate boundaries of taste and standards should lie" across all BBC output.
Over the next six weeks it will also host "special sessions" with senior editorial and compliance staff across the BBC, to list the failures which led to Sachsgate.
