ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall called to face MPs’ questions

ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall has been asked to face questions from MPs in relation to the broadcaster’s approach to safeguarding and complaint handling.

Ms McCall’s invitation to attend the Culture, Media and Sport committee, on Wednesday June 14, comes amid the row surrounding This Morning and the departure of its long-time host Phillip Schofield.

Schofield, 61, has become embroiled in a scandal after he resigned from ITV last week and admitted to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague.

Ms McCall wrote a letter to Parliament on Wednesday in which she revealed the broadcaster had commissioned an external review in the wake of Schofield’s exit.

Dame Caroline Dinenage, who was one of the addressees of Wednesday’s letter, said in a written response on Thursday: “The Committee regards the media industry’s duty of care towards its staff a matter of the highest importance.

“Whilst the recent coverage focuses on the Schofield case, it also raises fundamental issues about safeguarding and complaint handling both at ITV and more widely across the media.

“These issues should, particularly in the case of public service broadcasters, be open to scrutiny. The public must have confidence in the robustness of public service broadcasters’ safeguarding procedures.

“Whilst these are issues that we want to discuss first with ITV, we will also consider them in our regular scrutiny sessions with other public service broadcasters, including the BBC later this month and Channel 4 later in the year.”

ITV bosses are set to be questioned at a separate hearing regarding how Schofield’s departure was handled on Tuesday June 6.

The CMS committee has said that session will focus on “its intended purpose of scrutinising the government’s draft Media Bill”. BCS Bureau