BBC forced into embarrassing climbdown after civil servants caught working for 'fact-checking unit'
BBC forced into embarrassing climbdown after civil servants caught working for 'fact-checking unit' The Corporation confirmed those currently on secondment will not be involved in the publication of news while the scheme is under review Sign up to the News Newsletter Email address Sign up I agree to receive updates and information about my account, the GB News Community, and related products and services from GB News. By signing up you agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy and Community Rules. Thank you for signing up! See the latest from GB News here . Choose GB News on Google - add us as a preferred source Choose GB News Support GB News Champion free speech and independent journalism while unlocking exclusive benefits. Support us The BBC has been forced into a climbdown in its latest impartiality row after it was revealed civil servants were tasked with writing articles and fact-checking controversial issues. The corporation has offered six-month secondment opportunities for up to two statisticians from the civil service to work for BBC News' head of statistics. These graduates and civil service managers are placed inside the broadcaster, where they worked on "high-impact, sensitive topics" including Channel crossings by small boats and the Covid pandemic. The secondment programme, administered by the Government Statistical Service (GSS), has placed 39 officials from departments including HMRC, the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Work and Pensions at the BBC over the past eight years, with four more recruits sought for 2027. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say But the corporation has today confirmed this scheme has been paused. A BBC spokesman said: "We are pausing the civil service statistician secondment programme whilst we review the terms of the arrangement. "To be clear, all BBC journalism and editorial decisions are made by BBC journalists and editors, in line with the BBC’s editorial guidelines, so the statisticians never make editorial decisions. "However, the BBC takes independence and transparency incredibly seriously, and we must ensure we are meeting the highest standards." The BBC has been forced to climbdown after facing accusations of breaching impartiality guidelines when it was revealed civil servants were tasked with writing articles and fact-checking controversial issues | BBC The BBC confirmed those currently on secondment will not be involved in the publication of news while the scheme is paused and under review. It was also added that the current round of recruitment for the 2027 cohort will be paused. The job listing for the next year's secondment, which closed on Friday, had said successful candidates would have "the ability to influence decision-making, working with credibility and proactively with customers to share knowledge and information". LATEST NEWS Pensioner who died alongside boy in light aircraft crash near Loch Lomond named Guardian staff handed bedbug detectors amid office infestation National Lottery data reveals luckiest place in Britain to become millionaire In now-removed blog posts, uncovered by The Telegraph, one civil servant, who works at the Department for Work and Pensions, recalled a "memorable moment... working with business journalists on the spring Budget". She said one of her roles was to "advise journalists on the use of data and statistics in news stories," adding the work "spanned multiple formats, online articles, television, radio, and podcasts, each with its own editorial style and constraints". Another official, then employed by the Department for Business and Trade, described drafting text on migration statistics that was incorporated into a published article on the BBC's main website. The same individual recounted fact-checking claims about crime rates linked to different nationalities, producing an explainer that appeared online. Prof Carl Heneghan, who heads the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford, said this week that "not only does it undermine the trust, it goes to the heart of the editorial problem." The BBC today said that, while the statistician's work sometimes had their names on the website, "they never made editorial decisions". 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