Post by Teddy Bear on Aug 1, 2010 20:37:25 GMT
The article speaks for itself, and simply shows how the BBC just says what it wants, and does what it wants to do, even if it's contrary.
A law unto themselves.
A law unto themselves.
BBC's £1m in bonuses ... the year it said they were banned
By Paul Revoir
Last updated at 12:13 AM on 31st July 2010
The BBC has gone back on a promise to suspend bonuses for all its staff.
The broadcaster had announced it was stopping any extra payments in recognition of the tough economic climate.
But figures have revealed that despite the promise, in the period when the bonuses were meant to have been stopped, the best part of £1million was handed out.
Critics say the BBC has ignored its own guidelines and accuse it of misleading the public.
Last January the BBC announced that staff on all grades would be stopped from getting any bonuses until at least July 2010, reflecting the tough ‘current climate’.
But figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that in fact the corporation gave extra rewards to a variety of staff members throughout the last financial year.
It paid £790,706 in bonuses to 161 staff members between April 2009 and April 2010, which averages out at £5,000 per person.
Last night the BBC said that a small number of bonus payments had been made to staff for ‘exceptional performance’ where they had ‘gone over and above normal duties’.
These would include filling a more senior vacancy without any extra pay but delivering ‘outstanding’ results. It is understood the majority of the bonuses were paid out to more junior staff members, likely to be those earning less than £37,000.
The BBC admitted that a ‘small number’ of its 618 senior managers had also received a bonus because it was part of their contract or because payment was agreed before the freeze was introduced.
Basic salaries for senior managers start at around £75,000 rising up to £838,000 for director general Mark Thompson.
More than 382 staff earned more than £100,000 in 2009, with as many as 58 earning in excess of the Prime Minister’s £194,250 salary.
None of the executive board – the BBC’s most senior bosses – including Thompson, his £488,000-a-year deputy Mark Byford and director of vision Jana Bennett, paid £517,000, received a bonus.
But BBC Worldwide chief executive John Smith received a £141,000 bonus on top of his £480,000 annual salary.
He was exempted from the salary and bonus freeze because he runs commercial operations but only stepped down from the executive board in October 2009.
Last night Conservative MP John Whittingdale, chairman of the culture, media and sport select committee, said: ‘There may be perfectly valid reasons why some staff should receive bonuses but they should not have claimed no staff were going to get them.
‘A lot of people will have been surprised having heard the original announcement that some people have still received bonuses, which were not contractually obliged to them.’
A BBC spokesman said: ‘In the last financial year fewer than one per cent of staff received bonuses which were either to fulfil pre-agreed contractual commitments or to reward exceptional performance by individuals. Exceptional performance bonuses were not paid to any senior managers, in line with guidance.’
The corporation also pointed to the downward trend in bonus payments, from £15.6million to more than 9,000 employees last year, to the most recent £790,706.
By Paul Revoir
Last updated at 12:13 AM on 31st July 2010
The BBC has gone back on a promise to suspend bonuses for all its staff.
The broadcaster had announced it was stopping any extra payments in recognition of the tough economic climate.
But figures have revealed that despite the promise, in the period when the bonuses were meant to have been stopped, the best part of £1million was handed out.
Critics say the BBC has ignored its own guidelines and accuse it of misleading the public.
Last January the BBC announced that staff on all grades would be stopped from getting any bonuses until at least July 2010, reflecting the tough ‘current climate’.
But figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that in fact the corporation gave extra rewards to a variety of staff members throughout the last financial year.
It paid £790,706 in bonuses to 161 staff members between April 2009 and April 2010, which averages out at £5,000 per person.
Last night the BBC said that a small number of bonus payments had been made to staff for ‘exceptional performance’ where they had ‘gone over and above normal duties’.
These would include filling a more senior vacancy without any extra pay but delivering ‘outstanding’ results. It is understood the majority of the bonuses were paid out to more junior staff members, likely to be those earning less than £37,000.
The BBC admitted that a ‘small number’ of its 618 senior managers had also received a bonus because it was part of their contract or because payment was agreed before the freeze was introduced.
Basic salaries for senior managers start at around £75,000 rising up to £838,000 for director general Mark Thompson.
More than 382 staff earned more than £100,000 in 2009, with as many as 58 earning in excess of the Prime Minister’s £194,250 salary.
None of the executive board – the BBC’s most senior bosses – including Thompson, his £488,000-a-year deputy Mark Byford and director of vision Jana Bennett, paid £517,000, received a bonus.
But BBC Worldwide chief executive John Smith received a £141,000 bonus on top of his £480,000 annual salary.
He was exempted from the salary and bonus freeze because he runs commercial operations but only stepped down from the executive board in October 2009.
Last night Conservative MP John Whittingdale, chairman of the culture, media and sport select committee, said: ‘There may be perfectly valid reasons why some staff should receive bonuses but they should not have claimed no staff were going to get them.
‘A lot of people will have been surprised having heard the original announcement that some people have still received bonuses, which were not contractually obliged to them.’
A BBC spokesman said: ‘In the last financial year fewer than one per cent of staff received bonuses which were either to fulfil pre-agreed contractual commitments or to reward exceptional performance by individuals. Exceptional performance bonuses were not paid to any senior managers, in line with guidance.’
The corporation also pointed to the downward trend in bonus payments, from £15.6million to more than 9,000 employees last year, to the most recent £790,706.