BBC Pays Double for Taxis - Booking Internally

[Teddy Bear]

Par for the course, something very fishy about the BBC goings on in this story.

The BBC are paying double the going rate for taxi fairs booking through their own internal website - Gateway.

When asked about the reasons for using the internal booking service rather than asking employees to book local firms, a BBC spokesperson said “It is important that we have contracts in place with preferred suppliers as we have a responsibility to ensure that taxi companies used by BBC staff, freelancers and guests are legally compliant, vetted and available when required.”

So we are to believe that local taxi companies wishing to partake in those 350,000 taxi rides used every year by the BBC wouldn't bring evidence of full compliance, the necessary forms and CRB checks to show all drivers to be used fit any requirement, and maintain an availability 24 hours a day.

But the BBC provides an excuse that they would rather pay double by going through their own channel.

Somebody(s) raking it in.

BBC paid 'twice as much' for 350,000 taxi journeys
Staff at the corporation claim the BBC is paying over the odds for journeys which would be considerably cheaper if booked with a local firm
BBC executive taxi claims 'up 19 per cent'

By Hannah Furness

The BBC has spent licence fee-payers' money on 350,000 taxi journeys in the last year, as it is accused of paying up to double the going rate on £10 million of journeys.

Staff at the corporation, who use an internal booking system to arrange taxis, have claimed the BBC is paying over the odds for journeys which would be considerably cheaper if booked with a local firm.

The BBC has already confirmed spending more than £10 million on taxi journeys in the last year, with 350,000 separate journeys booked for staff and guests.

A spokeswoman for the corporation defended the system, saying it was important the taxi firms used are "legally compliant, vetted and available when required".

The discrepancy was highlighted in the BBC's internal magazine Ariel, following a letter from staff member Marc Settle, a project producer at the BBC Academy's College of Journalism.

He said the organisation's workers are told to book cabs through internal website Gateway, which promises 'More money for programmes'.

Writing in Ariel this week, he said: "When you book a taxi via Gateway, you're greeted with a comforting strapline of 'More money for programmes'.
"Is this actually the case? I rang the number on Gateway to get a quote for a journey from Tonbridge in Kent to Gatwick and was told £87.

"That seemed high, so I rang a few local companies and, on average, was quoted £45.
"Another journey from Stanmore to Heathrow was £61 via Gateway yet a local company quoted just £25.

"I know that any receipts which are submitted need then to be processed, and that has a cost. Equally, a central booking system may have merits for auditing purposes.

"I would like to know, though, why taxi journeys booked through the central system seem to cost twice as much as those booked locally."

Another BBC worker, who asked not to be named, added: "When I get a cab when I'm just out on my own time I'll pay £20 to get home, but for the same amount of miles when I book through work it will come to £40 or £50.
"It's a complete waste of licence fee money that should be going on new TV shows, not doled out for expensive taxis."

A spokesman for BBC Procurement replied to the complaint to say costs were higher in order to ensure the taxi firms were 'legally compliant' and that drivers were vetted properly.

He said: "Charges for taxis may appear to be higher than booking locally and directly but, as the BBC completes over 350,000 taxi journeys a year, we have to ensure that the companies used are both legally compliant and vetted and this is done as part of the managed service provision.

"We also require a 24/7 service which ensures broadcast criticality, full transaction reporting covering all journeys, ensuring we are compliant and can report on our P11d (Expenses and Benefits not put through the payroll) obligations."

A BBC source added the sum spent on the Gateway service also encompassed administration fees, and taxis for guests on radio and television shows.

In 2008/9, the BBC spent £15.1m on taxis, with a further £13.3m in 2009/10, £12.5m in 2010/11 and £11.3m in 2011/12.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said: “The BBC is a 24-hour organisation with offices across the UK, and, in common with many large businesses, it will incur travel-related costs.

"However, we are mindful that we are spending public money and we have policies in place to ensure spend on travel is proportionate and appropriate. The cheapest method of travel is always encouraged however on occasion taxi journeys are permitted in exceptional circumstances or where there are time constraints.”

When asked about the reasons for using the internal booking service rather than asking employees to book local firms, she added: “It is important that we have contracts in place with preferred suppliers as we have a responsibility to ensure that taxi companies used by BBC staff, freelancers and guests are legally compliant, vetted and available when required.”

[Teddy Bear]

I'm not sure about the figures given in the following Daily Mail article. they reckon the BBC has spent £21Million over the last 3 years on taxis. But as we see in the article above, the Telegraph reported the following figures:
In 2008/9, the BBC spent £15.1m on taxis, with a further £13.3m in 2009/10, £12.5m in 2010/11 and £11.3m in 2011/12.

So looking at that, it doesn't seem likely that for the last 3 years the figure would be only £21 million unless they've severely reduced use. Seeing as the BBC didn't announce this, which they would be first to do, something seems wrong with the totals.
Also this article doesn't mention the fact that because the BBC booked taxis through their own internal website - Gateway, they were paying double the going rate for fares. So possibly poor research and/or arithmetic by the author.

BBC's £21million taxi bill: Corporation spends more than £27,000 every working day on fares for staff over three years

• The sum equates to £27,600 every single day between 2011 and 2014
• One of the 830,00 trips was one of 120 miles that cost £279.66
• The broadcaster is currently under scrutiny over value for money

By Sam Webb for MailOnline

Newly unveiled figures show the BBC has spent a staggering £21million on 830,000 taxi rides for staff in three years.

The figure, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, equates to £27,600 every single day in that time period.

One trip of 120 miles cost £279.66, while the biggest fare was £322.62.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen condemned the broadcaster when presented with the figures by The Sun.

He said: 'I'm sure these figures will stun hard-working licence fee payers.'

On Friday the BBC launched an astonishing attack on its critics yesterday, accusing them of being crazy, lazy, cynical and shoddy.

A senior executive lashed out at those who dared to criticise the corporation's huge salaries or to point out that the Christmas TV schedule was stuffed with repeats.

Danny Cohen, who earns £327,800 as director of television, had an unseemly Twitter spat with a reporter who questioned why 62 per cent of the festive output on BBC1 and BBC2 will be old shows.

Speaking at a preview of the BBC's festive line-up, Mr Cohen called for opponents of the BBC to tone down their criticism.

'Perhaps this is time for a little less of the critical friend and a bit more of the friend,' he said.

'It would be crazy to damage, undermine or deflate what we have done.'

Mr Cohen's tone became angrier when he took to Twitter after the event and attacked individual journalists for criticising the BBC.

A string of newspapers, including the Daily Mail, held the corporation to account for filling much of its Christmas schedule with old shows.

But Mr Cohen dismissed the reports as 'poor journalism' and 'standard, lazy, annually repeated newspaper stories about the BBC'.

He added: 'The real story is the amazing talent on the BBC that week. Cynical, shoddy journalism.'

A BBC spokesman said: 'The BBC broadcasts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – when staff finish work in the middle of the night we think it's right and responsible they can get a taxi to get home safely.

'Value for money is essential and rigorous guidelines ensure taxi travel is proportionate and appropriate. The cheapest method of travel is always encouraged, however in some cases longer taxis journeys are unavoidable such as in emergencies or broadcast deadlines.'

[Teddy Bear]

Imagine running a company where you saw you were paying £200,000 for nothing. That for whatever reason, taxis were being ordered but it was then decided it wouldn't be necessary' but you were still charged for the call out fee.

For the BBC though, it's par for the course, and as far as 'cutting back' as they would like the public to believe they are doing, these exorbitant costs have gone up. The real figures for taxis are not known since any taxis used privately and subsequently claimed on expenses is not included below.

You really think what you get from the BBC is worth this?

BBC splashes more than £34.4million of licence fee cash on taxis in just three years

• The spending amounts to nearly £31,450 a day or 236,675 licence fees
• Corporation ran up a taxi bill of £10.7million in 2011-12, £11.8million in 2012-13 and £11.9million in 2013-14
• It includes more than £200,000 for taxis that were cancelled on arrival
• The figures are taken from the Corporation's central booking system
• But staff can also book taxis themselves and claim the money back on expenses, meaning the full taxi spend will be even higher
  

By Daily Mail Reporter

The BBC has splashed more than £34.4million of licence fee cash on taxis in just three years, it can be revealed.

The eye-watering spending splurge amounts to nearly £31,450 a day or 236,675 licence fees.

The Corporation ran up a taxi bill of £10.7million in 2011-12, £11.8million in 2012-13 and £11.9million in 2013-14.

It includes more than £200,000 to pay for cabs ordered, only to be cancelled on arrival and additional fees charged by drivers left waiting outside.

The figures, released following a Freedom of Information request, are taken from the Corporation's central booking system.

But staff can also book taxis themselves and claim the money back on expenses, meaning the BBC's full taxi is spend will be even higher.

A BBC spokesperson said: 'More than a third of taxis are to get guests to and from shows and many journalists and columnists are happy to use them when they appear on our programmes. We also make sure staff get home safe when they finish working in the middle of the night.'



The BBC has broken down around 16% of the £34.4million by department, but refused to do so for the remaining 84%, which includes radio, TV and news.

Of the £5.4million it was willing to detail, nearly £63,000 was spent on taxis cancelled on arrival, which accounted for 1.5% of bookings.

Additional charges for waiting were added to 11% of bookings at a cost of £171,000.

The departments covered in the breakdown are BBC Monitoring, Finance and Operations, BBC Trust, Strategy and Digital and BBC Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

They racked up a combined 252,746 journeys at an average cost of £21.40 each

[Teddy Bear]

The licence fee - the gift that keeps on giving - for the BBC, not those paying it.

£230k BBC boss pays £800 of taxpayers' cash for seven taxi rides: Mark Linsey accused of 'frittering away' money on lengthy cab rides

• Entertainment commissioning boss Linsey paid as much as £142 for a trip
• Colleague Wendy Darke, who heads the Natural History Unit in Bristol, charged the BBC £207 and £233 for two cab rides in December last year 
• Leads to calls from TaxPayers' Alliance to 'slam the brakes' on spending

By Katherine Rushton, Media And Technology Editor For The Daily Mail

The BBC has been accused of 'frittering away' money after one of its executives spent nearly £800 of licence fee payers' cash on just seven taxis.

Mark Linsey, who is paid £230,000 a year for his role as controller of entertainment commissioning, charged the corporation £791 for the journeys – an average of £113 each.

He booked the cars directly through the corporation's centralised system in the last four months of 2014 and his most expensive one cost an astonishing £142.

The BBC – which has claimed that it is trying to cut expenses – did not reveal where Mr Linsey was going, but it is understood he lives in Sevenoaks, Kent.

His bill was revealed as the corporation published the latest round of expense claims filed by its most senior executives – and Mr Linsey was not alone in enjoying expensive taxi journeys.

His colleague Wendy Darke, who heads the Natural History Unit in Bristol, charged the BBC £207 and £233 for two cab rides in December last year.

The trips were among more than 100 claims that she made for transport over a period of around six months, including £1,888 of taxis booked through the BBC's centralised system.

Danny Cohen, the BBC's £320,000-a-year director of television, racked up a taxi bill of £1,086, while creative director Alan Yentob spent £1,240 on taxis. Their bills helped to drive up claims for transport by around 16 per cent.

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, urged the BBC to 'slam the brakes' on this sort of spending.

'It takes some doing to run up a bill of this extraordinary size, and licence fee payers will be furious that their hard-earned cash is being frittered away so readily,' he said.

'The BBC is a national organisation so some travel is inevitable, but there has got to be some restraint when it comes to costs. The BBC should find cheaper ways of getting staff around the country, or sympathy for the TV tax will continue to wane.'

The latest revelations come amid mounting concern over the BBC's spending habits, which are likely to become a major factor in the negotiations over its funding arrangements, due to be renewed next year.

BAILIFF THREAT TO INNOCENT LICENCE FEE PAYERS

The BBC Trust has ordered an investigation into the way the TV licence fee is collected after innocent viewers were threatened with bailiffs.

The BBC, which sends out 100,000 letters every working day chasing the £145.50-a-year charge, said it would set debt collectors on one victim who had already paid their licence fee in full. They were also threatened with a £1,000 fine.

The BBC Trust has now ordered the corporation to investigate the situation and work out how to stop threatening notices being sent out in error.

The BBC pays Capita, the outsourcing firm, to collect the TV licence fee, at a cost of around £70million a year. A spokesman for TV Licensing said the debt collection notice was sent by mistake due to a specific set of circumstances. 'The complainant later set up a new licence whilst their previous licence was still valid,' he said.

'When they missed their cash payments, letters advised they might be referred to debt collection.

'This would only happen in a tiny number of cases. We can confirm we will examine these letters.'

However, other viewers have since contacted the Daily Mail to say that they have also received threatening letters despite paying their licence fee in full. Sally Wainman from Ipswich, said: 'This is not a specific set of circumstances. They are sending out blanket letters without checking their own data.'

Capita brings almost 3,000 TV licensing prosecutions a week, accounting for around a tenth of all cases in magistrates' courts. Anyone found guilty is left with a criminal record.

The powerful Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee said the National Audit Office should have 'unfettered' access to the BBC's books to help stem spending.

John Whittingdale, the former committee chairman, has also warned that the corporation should prepare for the end of the licence fee within the next decade.

He was appointed Culture Secretary this month and is leading the Government's negotiations with the BBC over funding.

The BBC insisted its spending record has improved since it started publishing expenses. A spokesman said: 'We have cut our taxi spend by 17 per cent since the same period in 2009/10 and have strict rules on when taxis are allowed.'