More than 100 BBC stars paid £150k named within months
MORE than 100 BBC stars who earn higher salaries than the Prime Minister will have their names made public within months.
Culture Secretary Karen Bradley will today announce that anybody who earns over £150,000 must be publicly identified by next July at the latest.
Previously, the Government had only planned to name so-called ‘talent’ who are paid more than £450,000. But ministers have now decided that a tougher requirement could allow more money can be spent on programming.
It is part of a BBC Charter which will introduce a new governing board to replace the Trust – whose chairman Rona Fairhead quit in protest earlier this week after being forced to reapply for her own job.
In return for clobbering the BBC over pay, ministers are understood to have dropped plans to appoint both the chairman and vice-chairman of the new body.
The Government will now appoint only the chairman. The BBC had claimed the original plan amounted to an assault on its editorial independence.
The Charter, which will cover the next 11 years, will also allow ministers to review if the BBC is keeping its promises after five years. The white paper on the Charter will be presented to MPs today.
A BBC source said: ‘The BBC admires the work of civil servants, but we are not competing against the Government for our programmes – we’re up against global broadcasters. The public says they want the best stars on the BBC and this could make it harder to retain them.’
But the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said the BBC is a publicly owned institution ‘granted unique and significant privileges, including nearly £4 billion of public funding a year.’
Latest data shows that 109 people at the BBC earn more than £150,000. The move will initially see talent pay broken down in £ 50,000 bands, such as £150,000-£200,000. In future years the BBC will be required to move to smaller bands – giving an even clearer idea of who earns what.
The high-profile presenters who
‘Up against global broadcasters’
face having their pay disclosed under the Charter include the Corporation’s top journalists such as Laura Kuenssberg, Sophie Raworth and Nick Robinson.
Gary Lineker is said to earn £1.8 million, while Chris Evans was reportedly on £600,000 and an extra £125,000 per episode for Top Gear, which he no longer presents. Jeremy Vine, the Radio 2 DJ and Eggheads host, is thought to be on £800,000 and Strictly Come Dancing hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman on over £500,000.
Fiona Bruce, the newsreader and presenter of Antiques Roadshow and Fake Or Fortune, is thought to earn £500,000.
MPs have argued there is no justification for the BBC keeping the salaries secret.
DCMS select committee chairman Damian Collins said: ‘All these salaries are paid by the licence fee-payer, whether they are for broadcasters or BBC executives.
‘Why should there be different rules for each? It’s disingenuous to say confidentiality is needed to prevent poaching when in general everyone in the industry knows what everyone else is getting paid.’ Committee member Nigel Huddleston, Tory MP for Mid Worcestershire, said: ‘The fact that it has been difficult to find out what talent is paid raises suspicion.
‘This would reduce that, and the chance of there being unfair or inappropriate compensation to BBC talent.’
The BBC already publishes the names and detailed remuneration packages of management earning more than £ 150,000. However, for on-screen talent it only publishes anonymised salary data in broad pay bands.
Mrs Fairhead walked out on the Trust earlier this week after being told by Prime Minister Theresa May that she must reapply for her £110,000-a-year job.
David Cameron had originally agreed to re-appoint her to the role behind closed doors and with no competition.