Post by Teddy Bear on Apr 21, 2008 17:54:55 GMT
This story must surely stick in the craw of any license fee payer. I'm not sure what the 'director of audio and music' does at the BBC, but can it be worth a £4m retirement package, not to mention the £316,000 annual salary she picks up?
It's not just her, you can read below of the others enjoying a huge slice of the forced public funding of this 'golden behemoth'.
It's not just her, you can read below of the others enjoying a huge slice of the forced public funding of this 'golden behemoth'.
BBC boss retires with £4m pension
By Nicole Martin, Digital and Media Correspondent
Last Updated: 3:06am BST 21/04/2008
One of the BBC's longest-serving employees is leaving the corporation with what is believed to be the biggest individual public sector pension pot, worth almost £4 million.
Jenny Abramsky, 61, who is stepping down as the director of audio and music, has worked for the BBC for almost 40 years.
Jenny Abramsky has worked for the corporation for almost four decades
Under the terms of her final salary scheme, she will be able to draw more than £190,000 a year when she leaves to become chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The BBC defended the size of her pension, saying it reflected the fact that she has worked for the corporation for almost four decades.
However, the figure will infuriate BBC staff who are facing redundancy as a result of budget cuts.
Mark Thompson, the director-general, announced last year that he was cutting 2,800 posts to plug a £2 billion shortfall left by a smaller-than-expected licence fee settlement.
According to last year's BBC annual report, Miss Abramsky, who earns £316,000 a year, has a larger pension pot than any other member of the BBC's executive board.
Mark Byford, the deputy director-general, has a fund worth £2.5 million while John Smith, the chief executive of BBC Worldwide, has accumulated a pension worth £2.6 million.
Miss Abramsky's entitlement also dwarfs that of Alan Yentob (£2.88 million), the BBC's creative director, and Sir Richard Mottram (£2.66 million), the former chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee.
advertisementUnder the BBC pension schemes, which allow staff to retire at 50, the corporation pays in about three times the amount paid in by employees.
Corin Taylor, the research director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said it was wrong that licence fee payers were contributing to the packages enjoyed by BBC executives.
"We've got to this really unfair state of affairs where huge numbers of people who don't have a decent pension are having to pay ever higher taxes to fund gold-plated public sector pensions," he said.
Philip Davies, a Conservative MP who sits on the select committee for culture, media and sport, agreed: "People in the public sector are enjoying these massive pension packages at a time when lots of people in the private sector are seeing the value of theirs decimated."
Miss Abramsky is leaving in September to replace Dame Liz Forgan as the chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund.
She joined the BBC in 1969 as a programme operations assistant and went on to edit The World at One and the Today programme. A BBC spokesman said Miss Abramsky's pension package was a testament to her long service: "Jenny is on exactly the same pension scheme as other employees who joined at the same time as her.
"This is not a free benefit. Jenny has contributed to the scheme throughout her time at the BBC and is entitled to it."
By Nicole Martin, Digital and Media Correspondent
Last Updated: 3:06am BST 21/04/2008
One of the BBC's longest-serving employees is leaving the corporation with what is believed to be the biggest individual public sector pension pot, worth almost £4 million.
Jenny Abramsky, 61, who is stepping down as the director of audio and music, has worked for the BBC for almost 40 years.
Jenny Abramsky has worked for the corporation for almost four decades
Under the terms of her final salary scheme, she will be able to draw more than £190,000 a year when she leaves to become chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The BBC defended the size of her pension, saying it reflected the fact that she has worked for the corporation for almost four decades.
However, the figure will infuriate BBC staff who are facing redundancy as a result of budget cuts.
Mark Thompson, the director-general, announced last year that he was cutting 2,800 posts to plug a £2 billion shortfall left by a smaller-than-expected licence fee settlement.
According to last year's BBC annual report, Miss Abramsky, who earns £316,000 a year, has a larger pension pot than any other member of the BBC's executive board.
Mark Byford, the deputy director-general, has a fund worth £2.5 million while John Smith, the chief executive of BBC Worldwide, has accumulated a pension worth £2.6 million.
Miss Abramsky's entitlement also dwarfs that of Alan Yentob (£2.88 million), the BBC's creative director, and Sir Richard Mottram (£2.66 million), the former chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee.
advertisementUnder the BBC pension schemes, which allow staff to retire at 50, the corporation pays in about three times the amount paid in by employees.
Corin Taylor, the research director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said it was wrong that licence fee payers were contributing to the packages enjoyed by BBC executives.
"We've got to this really unfair state of affairs where huge numbers of people who don't have a decent pension are having to pay ever higher taxes to fund gold-plated public sector pensions," he said.
Philip Davies, a Conservative MP who sits on the select committee for culture, media and sport, agreed: "People in the public sector are enjoying these massive pension packages at a time when lots of people in the private sector are seeing the value of theirs decimated."
Miss Abramsky is leaving in September to replace Dame Liz Forgan as the chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund.
She joined the BBC in 1969 as a programme operations assistant and went on to edit The World at One and the Today programme. A BBC spokesman said Miss Abramsky's pension package was a testament to her long service: "Jenny is on exactly the same pension scheme as other employees who joined at the same time as her.
"This is not a free benefit. Jenny has contributed to the scheme throughout her time at the BBC and is entitled to it."