Dame Carolyn has just been asked about an earlier mention of "person X" being asked about the affair 12 times, and whether that amounts to an interrogation.

The questions were asked over a long period of time, she says, "not in one go".

There were a couple of formal meetings had with HR, but there were multiple informal meetings.

"The motive was to help person X" as the rumours were rife with inappropriateness at the time, which is why he was asked.

He had a good relationship with someone in production he trusts, Dame Carolyn says, and this person was the one saying "if we can help, please say anything".

The ITV bosses are next asked where they draw the line "between actual evidence, and hearsay and rumour", regarding the rumours of Schofield's relationship.

Dame Carolyn McCall replies by saying "if someone had seen something" and if ITV bosses had been given "anything tangible not rumour" then it would have been accepted as more solid evidence.

She continues by saying the effect of any investigation on individuals is "extremely serious", which is "not a reason not to do it" - but she adds employment law would say that "you have to have evidence".

It's all very well having policies, but for employees that don't read ITV's policy, there's "so many other ways" that they can make themselves heard, Dame Carolyn says.

ITV has "unbelievably strong" networks made up of some 3,000 people that represent various communities with elected chairs.

There's a formal complaints procedure all about HR and documenting, but if that isn't something someone wants to do there are "multiple other routes."

A number for whistleblowing is "everywhere", even in the company toilets she says.

Next up, ITV's bosses are asked what their response is to allegations of a toxic culture at This Morning.

Dame Carolyn McCall says "we do not recognise that" in the programme and says the "vast majority" of people working there are "extremely engaged and very motivated".

McCall says when Dr Ranj Singh - who previously worked on This Morning - complained about the working culture on the programme, she "asked for internal investigation", which happened and "was not able to be upheld".

Steven McIntosh
Entertainment reporter

One slight discrepancy has cropped up on the issue of whether Schofield resigned from This Morning, or was removed by managers.

When the TV presenter stood down from the ITV daytime show, before he had admitted to the affair, he said in his original statement: "I understand that ITV has decided the current situation can't go on."

The implication was that bosses were so unhappy about the negative publicity surrounding his rift with co-star Holly Willoughby, that they had asked him to leave.

But today, Kevin Lygo told the committee: "When he wanted to step down from This Morning... [he said] ‘there’s too much noise, I don’t want to do it anymore, I’m sorry’, and we said 'well, if you want to step down, you can step down'."

The two statements make it unclear whether Schofield jumped or was pushed.

Dame Carolyn has just been asked if she ever asks herself the existential question, "Why am I here?"

"I'm not as philosophical as that," she says, adding she doesn't know where the question is going.

But, she is here because she believes in public service broadcasting and believes in ITV.

Like the BBC, ITV becomes the centre of the news when incidents blow up.

Dame Carolyn says she has "never spoken to person X", but she has spoken to Phillip Schofield.

She's just told the committee that Phillip had "just sent" her a text saying how "deeply sorry" he is for lying to ITV.

McCall says "we've remained in touch with Phillip" and adds that "he is receiving counselling".

She says Schofield asked for the counselling and also says ITV is funding it.

McCall continues by saying "with person X there's a whole series of duty of care" even though they left the company in 2021.

She says ITV gave "person X" aspects of duty of care "as recently as last week".

Clive Efford MP says the committee are "very concerned about the welfare of the individuals involved", particularly Schofield and "person X".

He asks if McCall can tell the committee what support ITV are giving them now and into the future.

Steven McIntosh
Entertainment reporter

So far in this session, we haven’t heard a huge amount of new information from Dame Carolyn and Kevin Lygo.

They have reiterated ITV’s previous stance that the affair was “deeply inappropriate”, and that both parties had previously denied their relationship to bosses. They also confirmed Schofield is receiving counselling, funded by ITV.

But Dame Carolyn did push back more strongly than she has before against allegations that Schofield’s affair was an open secret at ITV, as some of the network's former stars had suggested.

Dame Carolyn pointed out that nobody had actually produced any evidence when bosses looked into the rumours several years ago, adding that if anyone had had any proof, "nobody here [in the management team] would have turned a blind eye" to the relationship.

It is a steady start from Lygo and Dame Carolyn, but there is a huge number of further questions to get through over the next hour or two.

Dame Carolyn says ITV repeatedly and continuously asked questions and were repeatedly told nothing was happening.

"Our understanding and our information so far is that we could not have done this differently," she says

"Nobody here or on the management board would ever turn a blind eye to something as serious as this."

Dame Carolyn McCall says ITV were "very concerned about the state of mind of both Phillip and person X".

She adds Phillip was not in a good state and was worried about a social media backlash, while person X couldn't grasp "the media intrusion".

McCall says ITV bosses tried to work out what they could do to help person X.

Kyla Mullins is speaking now and says "we first became aware" of speculation that was published in a newspaper article on 6 December 2019.

She says the article spoke a lot about the relationship between This Morning presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby but also referenced Schofield's "PA and personal runner moving to a different programme despite a previous close relationship with him".

She says there was a huge amount of press speculation at that stage and when ITV's head of daytime and head of production "spoke to person X" to find out if any of the rumours were true they received "a categorical no".

McCall says the "imbalance of power" made Schofield's relationship "deeply inappropriate".

"And we have policies that say that very clearly," she says.

But she says they had no evidence of the relationship. "It was repeatedly denied by both individuals."

No one in the team said they knew anything either, she adds.

Dame Carolyn has just been asked how long she knew about rumours related to Phillip Schofield's affair.

She says she'd been looking into what was happening in December 2019, but when Schofield came out in February 2020 the rumours intensified.

That was the first time things "got really febrile", she says.

Dame Carolyn McCall says ITV bosses take the issues raised "very seriously".

She says she has a track record in "treating people well" and wants people to be able to "be themselves" at work.

She says ITV bosses "will learn from" whatever emerges from the inquiry.

She says there is a lot of misinformation out there and "we look forward to establishing the facts".

Image source, Parliament

The first question the committee puts to the ITV bosses is about the allegations surrounding Phillip Schofield that emerged in recent weeks.

The committee member says there has "been a common theme" among reaction from industry members, with many saying they knew about the rumours.

Dame Carolyn McCall is asked if her and Holly Willoughby were the only ones who didn't know about the allegations.

Steven McIntosh
Entertainment reporter

The news coverage of Phillip Schofield’s affair may have cooled in the past week or so, but for Dame Carolyn McCall, the pressure has only intensified.

ITV’s chief executive faces questions about the working practices and environment on This Morning and other programmes on the network. Issues such as whistleblowing, non-disclosure agreements and the influence of high-profile presenters are all likely to come up.

Until today, Dame Carolyn had not spoken publicly about Schofield’s affair, so whatever she says will generate headlines. She will have prepared meticulously for today’s appearance, and will be hoping her answers extinguish the recent fires and reassure advertisers.

Although Schofield hasn’t been in the headlines for a few days, scrutiny of ITV’s duty of care has only increased in recent days, as some former X Factor contestants have made accusations about how they were treated on the talent competition, formerly ITV’s biggest show.

Former finalists Rebecca Ferguson and Katie Waissel have said they had a traumatic experience on the programme. A spokesperson for X Factor said "robust measures" were in place to support contestants.

The committee will not be short of questions for Dame Carolyn. The stability of ITV and the public’s trust in the network will depend largely on her answers.

It looks like we're about to hear the first questions for ITV bosses as the DCMS committee session gets under way.

Stick with us here for the latest live updates.