Entertainment

BBC’s top earners to be revealed in £5,000 bands to improve ‘transparency’

The broadcaster has said it will disclose the pay of those earning more than £150,000.
The broadcaster has said it will disclose the pay of those earning more than £150,000. The broadcaster has said it will disclose the pay of those earning more than £150,000.

The pay packets of top BBC stars will be published in more detail this summer.

Last year, salaries were revealed in bands of £10,000 rather than the previous £50,000, after discussions with the Government over transparency.

Now the broadcaster has said it will disclose the pay of those earning over £150,000 in bands of £5,000.

But it said that an independent review had concluded that publishing details of those earning over £150,000 should not be extended to commercial operations, such as BBC Studios.

Summer Party at the V&A – London
Summer Party at the V&A – London Last year’s published pay packets did not include Claudia Winkleman’s Strictly Come Dancing fee (Ian West/PA)

The corporation has been criticised for not publishing payments through BBC Studios, which is not funded by the licence fee and became a commercial entity.

It meant that payments to the likes of Claudia Winkleman for Strictly Come Dancing and Alex Jones for The One Show were absent from the top pay list.

As well as making changes to the way pay is published, the BBC said it will “help staff and managers better understand the way decisions on pay are made”.

And it will “roll out existing unconscious bias training to all staff in the next year, to tackle the potential for the small amounts of this that may exist in any organisation”.

Gary Lineker was the highest earner according to published figures
Gary Lineker was the highest earner according to published figures Gary Lineker was the highest earner according to published figures (Isabel Infantes/PA)

BBC chairman David Clementi said: “These reviews show that the BBC is already among the leaders when it comes to transparency, in both the public service and in our commercial operations.

“But, while we have a strong record to build on, there are also areas where we can go even further which is why we are accepting many of the recommendations.

“I believe these improvements will help us build trust, whilst also running our operations effectively and competitively.”

BBC director-general Tony Hall said: “The BBC already publishes a vast amount of information about our spending, but we are determined that the BBC should lead the way when it comes to transparency.

“We are already more transparent than most organisations, but the additional steps we are taking today mean that we will go even further.”

Last summer’s pay report showed Gary Lineker was the BBC’s highest earner, in a list still dominated by men.

Since the furore over talent pay, Zoe Ball has taken over from Chris Evans, who had been one of the BBC’s biggest earners, on Radio 2’s Breakfast Show, while Fiona Bruce landed the role of Question Time host.