BBC moves to close the gender pay gap
THE BBC has made its first move towards closing its gender pay gap by replacing Andrew Neil as host of Sunday Politics with a woman.
Sarah Smith, the BBC’S Scotland editor, will take over when the show returns next month, which means that Neil’s salary of £200,000-£249,999 will be cut.
The BBC has set a target of equal pay by 2020 and James Purnell, director of radio and education, said that asking well-paid men to take a pay cut was “clearly one of the levers we can pull”.
Neil, 68, said he had decided to step down from the show after five years in order to free up his weekends and spend more time at his home in France. He will continue to present the Daily Politics show and This Week, although the BBC did not rule out the possibility of Smith, 48, taking over those shows when he decides to step down for good. Neil said: “I wish Sarah the best of luck with this challenging and wonderful production.” A year ago, Neil said he had no objection to his salary being published, provided it was made clear that he worked hard for his money.
“If you divide my pay by the number of shows I do, I’m pretty far down the pecking order. I do almost 180 programmes a year,” he said.
Left-wing critics have accused Neil of Tory bias, but they are unlikely to make similar complaints about Smith, the daughter of John Smith, the late Labour leader.
The presenter said last night: “I am thrilled to take on this role at such an exciting time in British politics.”
The news comes as it emerged that 1,763 members of BBC staff were given a pay rise of more than 10 per cent last year. The corporation said the figures reflected staff being given promotions or taking on extra responsibilities.