BBC admits: One in 8 staff is paid too much

THE BBC has admitted overpaying one in eight of its employees and allowing the wage bill for junior staff to soar by £35million in three years.

While the Corporation repeatedly boasts that it is cutting back on top-level salaries, new figures show it has simultaneously allowed its middle management to become increasingly bloated.

Thousands of employees now earn more than they are entitled to under the BBC’s own pay grade system, leading to accusations it is allowing costs to spiral out of control.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show 2,164 of its 17,447 staff earn more than their pay grade allows.

Critics suggested the practice of overpaying middle managers and more junior staff allows the Corporation to boast it is cutting senior posts while continuing to pay inflated salaries.

Last night Tory MP Angie Bray, who sits on the Commons culture, media and sport committee, said the figures show the BBC is ‘never knowingly underpaid’.

She added: ‘I honestly find it extraordinary that the BBC is breaking its own rules on pay. We had been led to believe it was only a handful of staff at the top who were being overpaid. Now it seems the rot runs much deeper.’

The BBC divides its staff into 18 pay bands. The top two, which include senior managers and top presenters, have seen their num- bers slashed after director general Tony Hall vowed to cut the proportion of executives to around one per cent of the workforce.

Between 2009 and 2013 the number of senior managers was reduced from 640 to 429, although a further 216 jobs need to go to hit the target.

But the amount spent on lower levels has risen.

The pay bill for employees on the rung below senior management – known as ‘ band 11’ – increased by a fifth to £65.5million in the past three years.

Of them, 61 per cent are given more than the salary ceiling of £73,888.

The next rung down includes 1,325 staff, including many of the BBC’s on-air journalists. ‘Band 10’ cost the BBC almost £97million in 2012/13. Almost half of those were paid more than the agreed salary ceiling of £66,460.

The BBC denied that it is simply reclassifying senior managers at a lower grade but giving them the same pay to artificially reduce executive numbers.

A spokesman said those earning above their pay band were either ‘long serving members of staff’ or had a special ‘skill-set’.