This Morning: ITV employees allege toxic culture following Schofield exit

Holly Willoughby has continued presenting This Morning following Phillip Schofield's exit in May

A "large number" of current and former ITV employees have made claims about a toxic working culture on daytime shows including This Morning, an MP has said.

The House of Commons media committee has received allegations of harassment, bullying and discrimination, according to its chair Dame Caroline Dinenage.

The claims have been made since the MPs questioned ITV's boss in June.

ITV said it took complaints seriously, but that it could not act unless such allegations were made directly.

The broadcaster's chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall appeared before the committee following the fallout from an affair This Morning's former presenter Phillip Schofield had with a much younger colleague.

That sparked allegations from people including Dr Ranj Singh, who used to regularly present segments on This Morning, of a wider toxic culture at the programme.

However, Dame Carolyn told the MPs she did "not recognise that in This Morning".

Dr Ranj Singh, who used to work on This Morning, previously made public allegations that there was a toxic environment on the show

In a letter published on Wednesday, Dame Caroline Dinenage told the ITV boss she and other committee members had been contacted by a "large number of individuals" in the weeks after her appearance in Parliament.

"These individuals speak with great pride about working at ITV and are hugely positive about many of their colleagues," Dame Caroline said.

"However, they also raise claims of toxic working cultures, bullying, discrimination and harassment."

Some "have described how their decision to raise concerns within ITV has led to further bullying and discrimination, and in some cases having to leave the organisation with a settlement agreement", Dame Caroline wrote.

"It is easy to understand why those individuals, especially where they have left ITV and do not wish to relive their traumatic experiences, do not feel capable of attempting to report their concerns, or that ITV will take them seriously."

In her letter, Dame Caroline also raised questions about the number of complaints ITV had previously said it had received from staff on the programme.

When she appeared before the committee, the ITV chief executive said the company had received two complaints about This Morning in five years.

However, Dame Caroline wrote that the committee had subsequently been contacted by other former and current employees who said they were "personally aware of multiple cases".

These individuals "appear to contradict your evidence that there have been only two complaints", the MP said.

'Take whatever action is appropriate'

In response, ITV's Dame Carolyn asked the committee to continue to encourage individuals with concerns to contact ITV using its reporting line SafeCall, which she said could take reports confidentially or anonymously.

Dame Carolyn also said individuals could make direct contact with Jane Mulcahy KC - the barrister who is conducting an external review of how ITV handled Schofield's affair and the fallout.

"As we made clear to you and the committee, we are absolutely committed to enabling people to raise any issues or complaints they may have about working at ITV," Dame Carolyn wrote.

"We always take these seriously and will investigate and take whatever action is appropriate.

"However, we are unable to do so if we cannot engage with those people."

Dame Carolyn said she and her colleagues were also surprised to learn Dame Caroline's letter would be published "given our [ITV's] own concerns about the welfare of our staff".

"We have of course co-operated in every way and been clear that complaints are taken seriously," Dame Carolyn said of the issues raised by the committee.

She added that the external review of ITV is expected to be completed in September.