Hancock: don’t pay BBC stars more than PM
THE BBC has a “special responsibility” to taxpayers not to pay its star presenters more than the Prime Minister, the new Culture Secretary has said.
Matt Hancock said that the corporation should take the same approach as other public sector bodies and pay presenters no more than £150,000 unless there are “exceptional” circumstances.
He questioned why BBC presenters enjoyed such high levels of pay while members of the Armed Forces, whose “lives are on the line” are subjected to public sector pay restraint.
It comes after a row over equal pay for male and female presenters at the corporation following Carrie Gracie’s resignation as China editor.
Figures published last year show that 96 BBC stars earn more than the Prime Minister.
In the public sector, the Treasury has to authorise all salaries that are higher than the Prime Minister’s. The corporation, however, is responsible for its own pay.
Mr Hancock told ITV’S Peston on Sunday: “The BBC is funded by licence fee payers and the licence fee is effectively a tax. And if you think about it, we’ve got to have equal pay for equal jobs and I think that the BBC has a special responsibility to lead and to be a beacon. Across the rest of the public sector we’ve brought in rules to say that except in exceptional circumstances, people who are paid for by tax- payers’ money shouldn’t be paid more than the Prime Minister.
“I think that they missed a chance to bring in that kind of rule when we brought it in for the rest of the public sector a few years ago.”
Mr Hancock questioned why BBC foreign editors earned more than the ambassador in the countries where they worked.
He added: “People in the Armed Services put their life on the line and yet they abide by the public sector pay norms, which is not to have excessive pay and where the Prime Minister’s pay is seen as a guide at the top.”
Asked if he would be pressing the BBC on the issue, he replied: “I’m looking forward to seeing the director-general of the BBC in the next couple of weeks and we will certainly be discussing this topic.”
A spokesman for the BBC said: “We have reduced the amount we pay talent by a quarter over the past five years. However, we’re not competing in the same market as politicians and other public sector jobs.
“We are competing against ITV, Sky, Channel 4 and increasingly now the deep pockets of Netflix, Amazon and Apple. A number of presenters have left the BBC for considerably more money but we always look to negotiate deals at a discount against the market.
“We have the highest respect for ambassadors, but these are entirely different jobs and in a different market.”
Mr Hancock also faced criticism from some Conservative MPS over his intervention.
Simon Hart, a Tory MP and member of the culture select committee, said: “The PM pay comparison is spurious. Everyone knows they make a fortune once they leave office – a prospect not generally open to BBC presenters. Not to mention there is a ‘market’ out there.”