Review for BBC phone-in contests

The BBC apologised after the results of a competition on Blue Peter were faked and Saturday Kitchen was criticised for not being clear a show was not live.

The Trust accepted action was taken by the BBC but felt an independent review would help restore public confidence.

An internal review has recommended tighter rules.

"Grave mistakes were compounded by serious errors of judgment"
Sir Michael Lyons, BBC Trust chairman

The report from the BBC's director general found that while the vast majority of shows had used premium rate lines correctly, the exceptions had fallen "seriously" short of standards expected of the corporation.

'Loose scripting'

On one Blue Peter show a guest was asked to pose as a competition winner when entrants could not get through on phone lines because of a technical problem.

Mark Thompson's report was particularly concerned that the incident was not referred to more senior management.

It noted that the programme's editor had since moved to another role and extra training made available to staff.

The mistakes on Saturday Kitchen - where viewers were encouraged to ring in to a pre-recorded show - were blamed on "loose scripting" and rules on approving scripts had been tightened.

A wider review of programmes found no serious problems and no malicious intent in any procedures.

Competitions suspended

However, a new system of guidelines to make sure any quizzes are appropriate and genuinely challenging is being put in place.

And all "live" telephone competitions where a winner is selected within a half-hour show have been suspended.

BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons said the Blue Peter errors were particularly serious.

"These grave mistakes were compounded by serious errors of judgment in not referring the matter to senior management," he said.

The external review, which is expected to be completed in the autumn, will be led by Ron Neil, the BBC's former director of News and Current Affairs and author of the Neil Report, which looked into reporting in the wake of the Hutton Inquiry.

The BBC Trust is an independent body which oversees the work of the corporation on behalf of the licence fee payer. It replaced the governors at the beginning of 2007.