Former BBC director-general asked to explain payoffs Mr Thompson agreed to be interviewed by the Commons Public Accounts Committee after it emerged he authorised a £1 million payoff for his deputy, Mark Byford, and a £390,000 pay out for Sharon Barclay, BBC director of marketing. A report by the National Audit Office criticised the pay-offs and led to Lord Patten of Barnes, chairman of the BBC Trust, suggesting Mr Thompson should be called to give evidence. Mr Thompson, now chief executive at the New York Times, told the BBC in October 2010 that the pay-offs were made on the basis of their contracts - but the NAO revealed both were paid a year's salary in lieu of notice, despite being paid for the majority of their notice period. Lord Patten said: "If you call a previous director-general of the BBC, I will be as interested as you are why we didn't know." Steve Barclay, a Conservative member of the committee, last night wrote to Mr Thompson to request the relevant papers "without delay." But he said Mr Thompson had not been given the chance to put across his side of the story and wanted to correct some of the statements made by executives, the Times reported. In a statement issued last week, Mr Thompson said he had fully informed the trust about the payoffs. Mr Thompson will be summoned again in December to answer questions about the Digital Media Initiative which closed after wasting £100million.