Licence fee payers have a right to the full picture

THE use of BBC Studios to mask the pay of the Corporation’s highest earners runs against the spirit of the Royal Charter agreement and the transparency that it was meant to achieve.

Last year, for the first time, the BBC published the salaries of talent earning more than £150,000 after recommendations from the then Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.

The BBC had argued it would lead to an exodus of talent – a so-called ‘poachers’ charter’ – as other broadcasters moved in to steal the Corporation’s best and brightest stars.

In reality, a year on, that myth has been dispelled. Far from leading to talent leaving the BBC, the salary disclosures have ignited a debate about equal pay for men and women, diversity on screen and value for money.

But this year, something was missing. Nearly £12million, in fact.

Another key part of the Royal Charter agreement was the ability of the Corporation to establish BBC Studios, enabling the broadcaster to use its expertise to create productions for other channels.

BBC Studios is counted as an independent production company and, in what has become a huge loophole, the stars it pays do not have to appear on the BBC’s list of top earners. This is not right. To be sure, the BBC is moving in the right direction in areas such as gender pay.

But much more needs to be done, with less than a quarter of the money disclosed in this year’s list being paid to female stars.

The reason why we have had the debate about how much women are paid at the BBC compared to their male colleagues is because the Corporation was forced to publish this data – yet I fear that we are still not getting the full picture.

It is time for the BBC to stop hiding behind this loophole, provide real transparency and publish the pay of all stars earning more than £150,000, no matter who is writing the cheque.

This is something that the Corporation owes to those who pay the licence fee.