The BBC misled its own board for a year about the speed at which it was responding to serious complaints, providing inaccurate data that exaggerated the proportion being resolved within time targets.

False data was given to the board throughout 2017-18, according to the BBC editorial guidelines and standards committee. Some of the figures seriously overstated the percentage of complaints dealt with promptly.

The revelation, which the BBC blames on an IT fault, will intensify scrutiny of the corporation’s relatively new management and oversight structure. The BBC Board, which replaced the BBC Trust, was established last year to ensure that the corporation fulfilled its public service mission by setting its strategic direction and budget. The board is accountable for all of the BBC’s activities but