Temperature control

There was no problem combating an outside temperature of 23C in Committee Room 15 of the Palace of Westminster yesterday. There was a genuine chill in the room, and no loosened ties, as MPs of the Public Accounts Committee systematically put the boot into the BBC over "non-contractual" severance payments of the past three years. And it also was one of those occasions when words mean much more than their face value.

Lord Patten, finger jabbing, blamed "the Board of Governors which helped to produce the culture". This certainly takes in Lord Grade, and may go back to Gavyn Davies. And then, to correct the situation, "it helps to have a DG you can trust". Later, "I totally trust what the Director General [Tony Hall] is doing". Mark Thompson's current employers, the New York Times took this sort of stuff seriously enough to issue a statement: "Mark continues to have the full support of The New York Times Company board and of his colleagues in management".

Margaret Hodge tossed a trio of failings, over the Entwistle pay-off, DMI and severance deals in general, at the Trust's banker, Antony Fry. Antony explained how the Executive's remuneration committee, chaired by banker Marcus Agius, had been beastly to him. He said he'd been on the receiving end of "particularly unpleasant conversations". He then proceeded to be unpleasant back, describing them as "completely out-to-lunch on what they thought was acceptable in terms of pay levels in public service broadcasting".

After these fusillades, the MPs turned to HR boss, Lucy Adams. As an (unqualified) executive coach, I'd advise Lucy not to start answers with "So..."; to take her glasses right off, rather than shove them on her head, when answering; and, if she's going to apologise for failings, however partially and narrowly, do it early in the proceedings rather than late. Answers about "custom and practice", "prevailing culture", "a certain way of doing things" should not have got through a rehearsal; nor should continual references to costs avoided. Lucy managed to bring in both Caroline Thomson, by name, and Zarin Patel, by job title, before Lord Hall, channeling Lord Sugar, stepped into to her aid, with "It's not just about HR".

Indeed Tony said he and Lucy were doing great work together, scrutinising salaries "down to £75k"; though I did hear the words "over the medium term".

What next ? Well, there's the Annual Report, next Tuesday. There's the challenge from Lord Patten to some of the recipients of "non-contractual" deals to act with "an appropriate level of seemliness". There's still a hunt to track down more names - including the "highly litigious individual" mentioned by Lucy Adams. We need to understand how Mark Byford was unable to take his full leave over seven years. There's a watch on 11 exit deals which bust the incoming £150k cap. There's an Ernst and Young report the PAC want, as well as more details on all 150 big deals. And that should take us to a fabulous session in November, when Mark Thompson has been invited, this time with reasonable notice, to explain how he ran the BBC.