Hall quits BBC as storm gathers over licence fee
Threat of a new, politically appointed chairman amid pay and pensioner disputes said to be behind decision
LORD HALL of Birkenhead quit the BBC yesterday after ministers threatened to appoint a Tory as the corporation’s next chairman and undermine his licence fee deal for the over-75s.
The director-general took staff by surprise when he announced his decision to step down two years earlier than expected.
The 68-year-old will leave in the summer just as the BBC implements its policy requiring more than three million pensioners to pay the licence fee.
The Tories are adamant that the BBC should cover the costs and the Prime Minister has ordered a review, which could see non-payment of the fee decriminalised.
The Government will appoint a new chairman to replace Sir David Clementi when his term ends in February next year. Sources said Lord Hall believes the appointee will be sympathetic to the Tory view.
It is understood that the BBC board also wanted a new face to lead the corporation as it fights for survival ahead of its charter renewal in 2027.
Lord Hall’s position has been weakened by accusations of political bias in BBC reporting, and his failure to get to grips with the equal pay scandal. The Samira Ahmed case has opened the floodgates for women at the corporation to claim millions in back pay.
“Tony decided some months ago that he was going to go. The one thing that has triggered it is a new chairman coming next year,” a source said.
“It is a political appointment. The Government has made it clear that during the Blair period his acolytes took over, and now it wants someone at the BBC whose views are more in line with theirs.” The Daily Telegraph understands the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is mulling over several names to replace Sir David.
Ministers have been impressed by the efficient way rival broadcasters are run with a comparatively small number of staff. One Conservative source said they wanted to see the BBC learn from rivals.
Lord Hall took over as director-general in 2013 in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal. His predecessor, George Entwistle, had lasted just 54 days.
In 2015, Lord Hall agreed that the BBC would bear the cost of free television licences for the over-75s, insisting at the time that it was a “strong” deal. But last year he announced that more than three million pensioners would have their free licences rescinded.
The BBC insisted it could not afford the £745million annual cost of the free licences, and will save nearly £500 million by charging all over-75s except those who claim pension credit.
Those pleas of poverty sit awkwardly with revelations about BBC stars’ salaries. Ahmed’s employment tribunal showed Jeremy Vine was paid £3,000 per 15-minute episode of Points of View.
This week, Sarah Montague disclosed that she had won £400,000 in back pay after forcing bosses to concede that she had been significantly underpaid in comparison to her male colleagues on Today.
One former BBC governor said Lord Hall had to go: “He has not handled the equal pay issue at all well. He simply didn’t get ahead of it and see what would follow. That’s quite a major failing. Most of all, his handling of the licence fee for over-75s was lamentable.”
Friends of the director-general said he had achieved a great deal during his seven years in the job, and equal pay was a problem he inherited. “Tony spent a lot of his time cleaning up other people’s mistakes,” one said.
Lord Hall, who was chief executive of the Royal Opera House before becoming director-general, now plans a return to the arts. His first appointment was announced yesterday, as chairman of the trustees at the National Gallery.
In his resignation speech to BBC staff, he said: “If I followed my heart I would genuinely never want to leave. However, I believe that an important part of leadership is putting the interests of the organisation first.”
BBC licence fee payers’ money will go up in “virtuous feminist smoke” if women don’t stop asking for back pay, according to broadcaster Libby Purves.
Writing in the Radio Times, the former Radio 4 presenter argued that while there has been “an injustice towards women” at the corporation, she does not think that big payouts to female staff are a good solution. She said: “There are another hundred women with claims: zeros multiply before the terrified eyes of BBC accountants.”
sir – The BBC will be seeking someone to replace Lord Hall of Birkenhead, who has announced that he will be stepping down as director-general later this year (report, telegraph.co.uk, January 20).
More importantly, it needs to start thinking hard about how the compulsory television licence fee can be replaced with a system of voluntary subscription. Gerald Heath
Corsham, Wiltshire
sir – The BBC should acknowledge that a £154.50 annual charge for a television licence exploits the needs of older viewers, who are primarily interested in watching popular entertainment and current affairs programmes.
It would be fairer to charge pensioners only for the basic channels that include public-service content. An annual charge of £52, or £1 a week, would take the sting out of the argument and facilitate the introduction of a voluntary subscription service for all additional BBC channels and streaming services. John Naylor
East Preston, West Sussex
sir – Lord Hall redirected the BBC’S television budget to attract 16- to 34-year-olds (report, January 16) while also requiring people over 75 to keep paying the licence fee. This was disingenuous and may have brought closer the decriminalising of nonpayment of the television tax. David Barlow
Helston, Cornwall
sir – I endorse John Simpson’s comments (report, January 14) about being uncomfortable giving people criminal records for not paying the BBC licence fee. I can assure him that prosecutors are generally uneasy about bringing such cases.
It is absurd to take the use of a television, with access to hundreds of free channels, as signing up to a financial contract with the BBC. It is also an unacceptable embellishment of the BBC’S privileged position that enforcement of payment is backed up with a threat of criminal prosecution and, consequently, a criminal record.
It does not stop there, however. A large proportion of those convicted default on their fines and end up being imprisoned. What a gift to foreign powers, who are stung by criticism from correspondents such as Mr Simpson, to offer up the vision of citizens being imprisoned for refusing to contribute to the state mouthpiece. Kenneth Preston
Hillsborough, Co Down
sir – Under threat of jail for nonpayment, 2,589 licence-fee payers must now contribute to Sarah Montague’s payment of £400,000 (report, January 20).
Incompetence or indifference must be blamed for the BBC’S inconsistent pay levels in the first place, but an endless pot of cash to put things right must be every CEO’S idea of heaven. Cameron Morice
Reading, Berkshire