The BBC?s governing body has given
Jeremy Clarkson the green light to appear on future BBC shows after it rejected a long-running complaint about the former Top Gear presenter being lined up to host BBC1?s Have I Got News for You.
The
BBC Trust also rejected a complaint that called for information about what action had been taken against staff who witnessed Clarkson?s bust-up with Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon but did not intervene.
The trust?s complaints and appeals board, the final port of call for complaints escalated through the BBC system, has been assessing a call for Clarkson to be banned from appearing on all future
BBC programmes following the fracas that cost him his job on the motoring show.
The complainant said
director general Tony Hall?s comment at the time Clarkson was dropped ? ?there cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another dictated by either rank, or public relations and commercial considerations? ? had not applied to Clarkson given that he had been lined up to appear as guest host of Have I Got News for You.
The BBC said the issue of Clarkson has been ?considered at the highest level? and that while his contract had not been renewed on Top Gear, he was ?not banned from appearing on the BBC altogether?.
Clarkson ultimately decided against hosting Have I Got News for You during its last series because of the furore,
but did appear in October.
The complainant escalated the issue through the appeals process at the trust, arguing that ?if the BBC allows the employment of someone who has assaulted another member of staff then the policy should be reviewed?.
The trust?s complaints and appeals board delivered a final verdict that said it would not uphold the complaint.
The trust said the choice of presenters was an editorial and operational decision which was the responsibility of the BBC executive board.
?The [complaints] panel did not consider that it was appropriate, proportionate or cost-effective to take this matter on appeal because it did not have a reasonable prospect of success,? said the BBC Trust.
The trust?s panel also declined to review a BBC decision not to pursue a complaint about staff members who stood by and watched the fracas between Clarkson and Tymon.
The BBC?s position was that it would not investigate the complaint as the matters raised were of an ?internal nature? and therefore could not be discussed.
The complainant?s comments had been ?passed to the appropriate figures within the BBC,? said BBC audience services which first handled the complaint.
The complaint was eventually escalated to the trust?s panel, stating that any inquiry into the action of other BBC staff present at the time of the incident, and any subsequent action, would be an ?operational matter? for the BBC executive board.
The trust panel said the complainant was entitled to make a Freedom of Information Act request for that information.
?The panel agreed that audience services had provided a reasoned and reasonable response to the complainant?s concerns,? said the trust.
