Post by Teddy Bear on May 3, 2010 0:32:45 GMT
The already over-bloated BBC executives are just going to continue raking as much money as possible from the licence fee while continuing to brainwash the general public that they deserve it. That's what you can do when you when you have the power that the BBC wields, and the ignorant blinkard public will continue to sleepwalk their way into whatever world the BBC plunges them into - as has already been shown.
BBC to divert licence-fee money into pension fund to plug £1 billion 'black hole'
By Arthur Martin
The BBC will have to divert licence-fee money into its pension fund to plug a £1billion 'black hole'.
The deficit is worsened by generous gold-plated retirement pots to staff - with five senior executives along having pots valued at a total of £35million between them.
It may need to pour in extra 'deficit payments' of up to £100m a year - nearly equivalent to the annual budget of Radio 4 - from licence fees to meet the shortfall.
The emergence of the black hole will renew public concern over the lucrative retirement benefits racked up by its top executives.
One critic said the BBC needed to follow a 'realistic plan' to tackle the problem.
Mark Byford, the deputy director-general, has accrued an annual retirement income of £229,500 from a pot that would cost almost £8m to buy on the open market.
The BBC's controversial creative director Alan Yentob, who last week claimed he would not be able to work properly without flying business class at licence feepayers' expense, is already believed to be picking up a pension through a complex deal which enabled him to keep working while getting access to his pot.
A full valuation of the BBC's pension scheme was conducted in April and will be published later this year.
A source who is aware of the findings said the deficit is £1.5billion - 'give or take £100m'.
He said there was now considerable debate within the BBC's high command about how to deal with it.
Tough rules brought in by Labour oblige employers to pour in extra cash to pension funds with deficits.
Jeremy Hunt, the shadow culture secretary, said: 'Just like the rest of the public sector, the BBC needs to have a realistic plan to tackle its pensions deficit.'
The BBC's pension fund had a deficit of £470m in April 2008, compared with a surplus of £275m in 2007.
Sharp falls in share prices and bond yields have caused the deficit in the corporation's fund to triple in just two years, according to one source.
Nick Silver, an actuary and fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: 'It appears that the assets of the [BBC's] scheme performed very badly between March 2008 and 2009.
This was probably as a result of them being heavily invested in equities.'
The scheme's latest accounts show that 52per cent of the fund is invested in shares.
At the latest count there were 17,774 BBC staff paying into the fund and 21,833 former workers claiming their pension. A further 19,137 - most of whom are former staff who no longer pay into the scheme - will receive a BBC pension in the future.
Jeremy Peat, chairman of the BBC's pension fund trustees, has written to members explaining that April's valuation will also make 'more prudent assumptions' about life expectancy.
Details of the black hole turn the spotlight back onto the BBC's hefty payments to staff.
It was dubbed the 'bloated Beeb' last November after the corporation admitted it paid an astonishing £20million a year to an army of advisers, strategists and 'decision makers'.
The six-figure salaries commanded by its bloated middle management tier were disclosed for the first time amid claims that the corporation continued to live in cloud cuckoo land.
The BBC listed the earnings of 107 of its most influential executives, including a series of 'advisers' whose titles included 'Organisational Development and Change Director' and 'Director of Audiences'.
Others included a £130,000-a-year 'outreach' boss, a business continuity official on £117,000 and a 'reward director', themselves rewarded with a £196,000 salary.
A BBC spokesman said the £1.5billion deficit figure was 'speculative'.
A spokesman said: 'Each year, a check is carried out around the funding position of the BBC pension scheme by the pension scheme trustees.
'They expect the results of the 2009 interim valuation to be finalised and communicated to members by the end of June 2010. Until then any discussion on the interim funding position must be speculative.
'The BBC, as a responsible publicly funded organisation, continually monitors its costs and exposure to financial risks to ensure that licence fee payers receive value for money.'
By Arthur Martin
The BBC will have to divert licence-fee money into its pension fund to plug a £1billion 'black hole'.
The deficit is worsened by generous gold-plated retirement pots to staff - with five senior executives along having pots valued at a total of £35million between them.
It may need to pour in extra 'deficit payments' of up to £100m a year - nearly equivalent to the annual budget of Radio 4 - from licence fees to meet the shortfall.
The emergence of the black hole will renew public concern over the lucrative retirement benefits racked up by its top executives.
One critic said the BBC needed to follow a 'realistic plan' to tackle the problem.
Mark Byford, the deputy director-general, has accrued an annual retirement income of £229,500 from a pot that would cost almost £8m to buy on the open market.
The BBC's controversial creative director Alan Yentob, who last week claimed he would not be able to work properly without flying business class at licence feepayers' expense, is already believed to be picking up a pension through a complex deal which enabled him to keep working while getting access to his pot.
A full valuation of the BBC's pension scheme was conducted in April and will be published later this year.
A source who is aware of the findings said the deficit is £1.5billion - 'give or take £100m'.
He said there was now considerable debate within the BBC's high command about how to deal with it.
Tough rules brought in by Labour oblige employers to pour in extra cash to pension funds with deficits.
Jeremy Hunt, the shadow culture secretary, said: 'Just like the rest of the public sector, the BBC needs to have a realistic plan to tackle its pensions deficit.'
The BBC's pension fund had a deficit of £470m in April 2008, compared with a surplus of £275m in 2007.
Sharp falls in share prices and bond yields have caused the deficit in the corporation's fund to triple in just two years, according to one source.
Nick Silver, an actuary and fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: 'It appears that the assets of the [BBC's] scheme performed very badly between March 2008 and 2009.
This was probably as a result of them being heavily invested in equities.'
The scheme's latest accounts show that 52per cent of the fund is invested in shares.
At the latest count there were 17,774 BBC staff paying into the fund and 21,833 former workers claiming their pension. A further 19,137 - most of whom are former staff who no longer pay into the scheme - will receive a BBC pension in the future.
Jeremy Peat, chairman of the BBC's pension fund trustees, has written to members explaining that April's valuation will also make 'more prudent assumptions' about life expectancy.
Details of the black hole turn the spotlight back onto the BBC's hefty payments to staff.
It was dubbed the 'bloated Beeb' last November after the corporation admitted it paid an astonishing £20million a year to an army of advisers, strategists and 'decision makers'.
The six-figure salaries commanded by its bloated middle management tier were disclosed for the first time amid claims that the corporation continued to live in cloud cuckoo land.
The BBC listed the earnings of 107 of its most influential executives, including a series of 'advisers' whose titles included 'Organisational Development and Change Director' and 'Director of Audiences'.
Others included a £130,000-a-year 'outreach' boss, a business continuity official on £117,000 and a 'reward director', themselves rewarded with a £196,000 salary.
A BBC spokesman said the £1.5billion deficit figure was 'speculative'.
A spokesman said: 'Each year, a check is carried out around the funding position of the BBC pension scheme by the pension scheme trustees.
'They expect the results of the 2009 interim valuation to be finalised and communicated to members by the end of June 2010. Until then any discussion on the interim funding position must be speculative.
'The BBC, as a responsible publicly funded organisation, continually monitors its costs and exposure to financial risks to ensure that licence fee payers receive value for money.'