The acting director general of the BBC will set out his plans today for rebuilding trust in the corporation in the wake of the botched Newsnight child abuse investigation.
Tim Davie held his first meeting last night with the BBC Trust since being drafted in as a stand-in replacement for George Entwistle, who dramatically announced his resignation on Saturday.
It came as a row erupted over the disclosure that Mr Entwistle - who served just 54 days in the post - was to receive a full year's salary of £450,000 in lieu of notice.
Under the terms of the his contract he was entitled to only six months' pay, but the trust said that the additional payment had been agreed as a reflection of his continuing involvement with the various BBC inquiries now under way.
The move was greeted with anger and disbelief by MPs. The chairman of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, John Whittingdale, said the trust had to explain how it could justify such a large pay-off.
"A lot of people will be very surprised that somebody who was in the job for such a short period of time and then had to leave in these circumstances should be walking away with £450,000 of licence fee payers' money," he said.
"Certainly I would want to know from the trust why they think that's appropriate. I find it very difficult to see a justification for that amount of money to be paid to somebody who has had to resign in these circumstances.
"I wouldn't have thought that just because you have to help an inquiry into the Savile allegations you necessarily need to be paid a such a large amount of money."
Harriet Harman MP, Labour's shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport, added: "It is not justifiable for the BBC to pay double the contractually required sum to the director general on his resignation. It looks like a reward for failure.
"George Entwistle should decline to accept any more than is required under his contract.
"This is not the way to restore public confidence in the BBC."
Within the BBC, staff were braced for further bloodletting in the wake of Mr Entwistle's departure.
Mr Davie yesterday received a report which Mr Entwistle had commissioned from BBC Scotland director Ken MacQuarrie into how Newsnight came to wrongly implicate former Tory Party treasurer Lord McAlpine in the north Wales children's home scandal of the 1970s and 1980s.
Before he quit, Mr Entwistle warned that it could result in disciplinary action against staff and over the weekend MPs demanded that those directly involved in the broadcast were held to account.
The future of Newsnight also appeared to be in the balance, with the chairman of the BBC Trust Lord Patten warning that there would have to be some "tough managerial decisions".
A trust spokesman said Mr Davie - formerly chief executive of BBC Worldwide - would be setting out his plans for dealing with the issues raised by the broadcast "as a first step in restoring public confidence" in the corporation.
For now Downing Street appears willing to give the BBC a chance to get its own house in order in the wake of the crisis triggered by the disclosures of the Jimmy Savile child abuse, with sources saying ministers would not be "jumping in" to intervene.
Lord Patten, however, acknowledged that the corporation needed to "get a grip" and turn the situation around or his own position would be on the line.
"If I don't do that and if we don't restore the huge confidence and trust that people have in the BBC then I'm sure people will tell me to take my cards and clear off," he told Sky News's Murnaghan programme.
"I am not going to take my marching orders from Mr Murdoch's newspapers. I think there are big issues which need to be tackled involving the BBC and...that's what I want to give my attention to."
PA
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