Chair of Children in Need resigns, after reports that she protested over grants awarded to LGBT Youth Scotland

Rosie Millard, chair of the BBC‘s Children in Need, has resigned, after reports that she protested over grants awarded to LGBT Youth Scotland (LGBTYS), whose former chief James Rennie was convicted of child sex assaults in 2009.

Millard, who accused the charity of “institutional failure” in her letter of resignation shared with The Times, objected to £466,000 being awarded to LGBTYS, a charity which supports young gay and trans people.

Following the conviction of Rennie, the grants from Children In Need began seven months later, when the charity had new management in place.

A Children in Need spokesman said: “Nothing is more important to us than the safety of all children and young people.

“When allegations were made in relation to LGBT Youth Scotland their grant was immediately suspended with the full support of the board and a review began. In order to do this thoroughly and fairly the review took three months and culminated in the decision to withdraw funding.”

Rennie, who had been chief executive of LGBTYS from 2003 to 2008, was jailed in 2009 after being revealed as a member of a paedophile ring.

He was given a life sentence for sexually assaulting a three-month-old child and for conspiring to get access to children in order to abuse them. He was ordered to serve a minimum of 13 years, later reduced to eight on appeal.