The BBC has paused a programme that placed government statisticians on secondment with its news division, GB News reports, after criticism that the arrangement risked breaching impartiality rules. Under the scheme, run by the Government Statistical Service, 39 officials from departments including HMRC, the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Work and Pensions have worked with the BBC's head of statistics over eight years, on subjects such as small boat crossings and Covid.
The arrangement drew attention after The Telegraph found blog posts by secondees describing their work advising journalists. A BBC spokesman said the scheme was being reviewed, that statisticians had never made editorial decisions, and that the corporation took independence and transparency very seriously. Current secondees will not be involved in publishing news during the review, and recruitment for the 2027 intake has also been halted.
Source: GB News
