BBC Increases Top Salaries then Wants More Money

[Teddy Bear]

The contempt the BBC has for the public who are forced to pay for it can only increase the longer we are forced to have to pay for it.

On the same day we have this:
Number of BBC chiefs earning £100,000 or more rises despite pledge to cut salaries

Lord Patten of Barnes, chairman of the BBC Trust, told The Telegraph in July that he would cut the number of senior managers from around 530 to 200 by 2015, to put an end to the "toxic" issue of executive pay.
“Licence fee payers don’t expect the BBC to pay sky-high commercial rewards to people that work for a public service,” he said at the time.
But a freedom of information request showed today that the BBC now pay 360 staff £100,000 or more. Only 310 employees were in the top tier salary bracket in January 2011.
Director General Tony Hall earns £450,000-a-year and it is believed that more than 130 of the 360 BBC bosses earn more than £142,500 or more - topping David Cameron's pay-packet.

We also have this:

Licence fee 'may need to rise' says former chairman Gavyn Davies

The BBC licence fee may have to go up so that it can compete against subscription services such as Sky, a former chairman of the corporation has reportedly said.

Gavyn Davies, made the remarks in Oxford at a speech given at the invitation of the BBC Trust, according to a newspaper.

It was his first speech on the corporation's future since he resigned as chairman in 2004 after it was criticised in the Hutton report.

The comments are expected to prompt fresh debate about the future of the licence fee when it comes up for renegotiation in 2016.

Mr Davies suggested that the fee, which was frozen for six years in 2010 at £145.50, should be lifted once people's incomes had recovered from the economic downturn.

He argued that it would allow the BBC to avoid a long-term decline compared to private broadcasters able to charge subscriptions.

Bear in mind this is not the opinion of somebody who has no interest in the outcome. This is somebody who was invited by the head of BBC Trust precisely to make this pronouncement. The same head of BBC Trust, Chris Patten, that vowed to reduce the the number of top salaries, but didn't.

If the BBC wants to 'avoid a long-term decline compared to private broadcasters able to charge subscriptions', cut them off from the licence fee and let them charge subscriptions.

Problem solved! Then they can pay themselves whatever they like.

[Teddy Bear]

An official register of BBC staff show the number of executives earning more than £100,000 increased under the new director-general’s tenure and 13 staff, earning more than the Prime Minister, have enjoyed pay rises of up to ten per cent. This also shows than 82 people receive more than £150,000 when Lord Hall’s target was to reduce this to about 70.
Of these people, 87 bring home more money than the Prime Minister, when his parliamentary and ministerial pay is taken into account.

Does this show the prevalent arrogance and bloated egos that exists at the BBC? As for Hall's pledges and targets - absolutely worthless.

More BBC executives earn salaries of £100k
The number of executives earning top salaries at the BBC has increased in the last year, figures reveal

The high salaries come at a time when a pay freeze still exists in the public sector and the BBC tries to recover from revelations about excessive severance pay to former executives

By Claire Carter

More than 80 staff employed by the BBC are earning more than £150,000 and the number of senior executives on high salaries has increased under the new director-general despite his pledge to reduce excessive pay, official accounts reveal.

A number of highly paid staff at the broadcaster saw their salaries increase during the last year as Lord Hall warned last week that around £100m worth of cuts could be made.

An official register of BBC staff show the number of executives earning more than £100,000 increased under the new director-general’s tenure and 13 staff, earning more than the Prime Minister, have enjoyed pay rises of up to ten per cent. This also shows than 82 people receive more than £150,000 when Lord Hall’s target was to reduce this to about 70.

The high salaries come at a time when a pay freeze still exists in the public sector and the BBC tries to recover from revelations about excessive severance pay to former executives.

Top earning staff are required to declare their pay and remuneration, with 103 doing so last March before Hall joined compared to 111 today, the Sunday Times reported. This increase is actually 100 to 102 when recently departed staff and non-executive directors are taken into account.

Of these people, 87 bring home more money than the Prime Minister, when his parliamentary and ministerial pay is taken into account.
The BBC said the list includes staff who have recently left the organisation and insisted Lord Hall had reduced the number of senior managers by more than 25, “reducing the pay bill by more than £2m.”

High earning staff include Anne Bulford, managing director of finance and operations, who earns £395,000 – an increase of £43,000 on the salary paid to Zarin Patel, formerly chief financial officer. However the BBC says Bulford has more responsibilities.

[Teddy Bear]

BBC Trust have launched a review to find out if the BBC's top 'talent' is being paid too much money.

Sounds good doesn't it? Would make one believe that they really have the licence fee payer at heart.
But a few facts about this review might just dispel that notion, and show this exercise for just what it is - PURE PR, at an extra cost of at least £100,000 to the licence fee payer.

Here's the details you need to consider:
The BBC Trust is paying one of the Corporation’s former executives a six-figure sum to conduct a secret inquiry into its stars’ earnings.

Yet despite going to the expense of hiring Mr Oliver’s agency, the BBC Trust has already said some details from the report, such as ‘individual talent deals’, will remain secret, preventing licence fee-payers from knowing how much the BBC pays its stars and how these compare to those in the commercial sector.

This is the second time the firm run by Mr Oliver – who was the BBC’s head of strategy from 1989 to 1995 – has carried out a review of stars’ pay for the BBC. In 2008, an identical exercise concluded that no employees were being overpaid.

Get it?

BBC’s £100k pay probe: Secret inquiry turns spotlight on bumper salaries of top stars

More than 250 BBC employees earn at least £250,000 a year and 14 earn more than £500,000 but the BBC refuses to name them
Graham Norton is the BBC’s highest earner on £2.6million-a-year
Gary Lineker comes in at number two with a £2million-a-year pay packet
Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson is paid £1million-a-year while Fiona Bruce gets £500,000 and Tess Daly £250,000
BBC cites commercial sensitivity as rationale behind refusal to name names

By Miles Goslett

The BBC Trust is paying one of the Corporation’s former executives a six-figure sum to conduct a secret inquiry into its stars’ earnings.

Mark Oliver’s firm Oliver & Ohlbaum Associates will investigate whether the BBC’s top ‘talent’ – including Graham Norton, Gary Lineker, Jeremy Clarkson and Fiona Bruce – is being overpaid.

More than 250 BBC employees earn at least £250,000 a year and 14 earn more than £500,000 but the BBC refuses to name them.

It is understood that Norton is the BBC’s highest earner, on £2.6million a year, with Lineker said to earn £2million a year, Clarkson £1million a year, Fiona Bruce £500,000 and Tess Daly £250,000, leading to fears that ‘talent’ salaries are out of hand.

The BBC says that it must pay such wages to keep up with commercial rivals.

Yet despite going to the expense of hiring Mr Oliver’s agency, the BBC Trust has already said some details from the report, such as ‘individual talent deals’, will remain secret, preventing licence fee-payers from knowing how much the BBC pays its stars and how these compare to those in the commercial sector.

The BBC Trust maintains the study ‘will compare the size and structure of the BBC’s reward packages with those offered by other broadcasters’. But this has triggered doubts about the ethics of employing a third party to find out what commercial rivals pay when the BBC will not reveal what its own publicly funded employees earn.

Last night Tory MP Rob Wilson said: ‘This doesn’t seem a reasonable use of licence-fee money.’

This is the second time the firm run by Mr Oliver – who was the BBC’s head of strategy from 1989 to 1995 – has carried out a review of stars’ pay for the BBC. In 2008, an identical exercise concluded that no employees were being overpaid.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by The Mail on Sunday to the BBC has revealed that five ‘key staff’ from Oliver & Ohlbaum will work on the project, the findings of which are expected to be published at the end of the year. In addition, an unspecified number of other employees of the firm, based in Notting Hill, west London, will assist.

The BBC has refused to say how much it is spending on the review, but an industry insider said this weekend that it is ‘easily more than £100,000’, given the number of staff involved and its scope.

A BBC Trust spokesman said: ‘The intention of this review is to ensure that licence fee-payers are getting a good deal on talent. It has never been our intention that the BBC or the Trust will have access to raw pay data of other broadcasters, and no details of individual talent deals for either the BBC or other broadcasters will be published.’

[Teddy Bear]

One could also ask whether the Prime Minister is worth the money that he is paid, notwithstanding, for what the BBC actually do, to consider themselves worthy of the money they take out for themselves is the height of arrogance and daylight robbery.

Would that they were privatized, then we'd see who they would have to hire and fire to try and survive commercially as well as to find the real talent that will appeal to the public.

Meanwhile we'll enjoy watching them drown.

Revealed: The 91 BBC executives who are paid MORE than the Prime Minister and 11 bosses get more than DOUBLE his salary

• Eleven BBC executives earn twice as much as David Cameron's salary
  
• And 91 bosses at the corporation earn more than PM's £142,000
  
• But new data does not reveal the salaries of stars earning up to £2.5m
  
• BBC director general Lord Hall has an annual package worth £450,000
  
• Head of radio Helen Boaden earns £352,900 according to new figures
  
• Her colleague BBC 1 controller Charlotte Moore is paid £240,000
  
• Executive BBC salary bill estimated to be at least £90million a year

By Francesca Infante and Tania Steere for the Daily Mail and Martin Robinson for MailOnline

The BBC pays 91 of its executives more than the Prime Minister and 11 are paid more than double his salary, it was revealed today.

The soaring salaries at the corporation mean that many managers get more than David Cameron’s £142,000-a-year.

Among them are director general Lord Hall, on £450,000; BBC One controller Charlotte Moore, on £240,000; and head of radio Helen Boaden, with a package worth £352,900.

The group of 91 – many of whom have worked for the corporation for decades – receive close to £90million a year.

But the total does not include the estimated 250 stars being paid more than £250,000 a year, with some presenters including Graham Norton, Gary Lineker and Jeremy Clarkson earning up to £2,5million.

The figures, published by the BBC in the interests of transparency, show that the number of managers receiving huge salaries is rising, not falling – despite repeated promises from BBC bosses to cut costs and do ‘far more with less’.

Managing director for finance and operations, Anne Bulford, pictured, earns £395,000-a-year

At the start of this year, 87 members of staff received salaries greater than the PM – but this has subsequently risen 3.5 per cent to 91.

The details were disclosed under a BBC policy to publish the salaries of anyone in its management structure receiving more than £150,000.

The figures do not, however, include the multi-million-pound fees handed to top on-screen talent, which remain secret – meaning the true number earning more than Mr Cameron is far higher.

Bumper pay packages have endured at the BBC despite increasing pressure on the corporation to reform its ways before its Royal Charter is renewed in 2016.

Managing director for finance and operations, Anne Bulford, recently said the BBC was committed to reining in the amount spent on swathes of middle-management.

Mrs Bulford – who herself earns £395,000 a year – told The Sun: ‘It’s vital that as much of the licence fee as possible goes straight to the programmes and services audience love.’

A BBC report published last week claimed the corporation would make savings of £1.5billion a year by 2016/17.

Last night a spokesman said: ‘The BBC has made significant savings on pay, expenses and property – overall we have saved over £150million per year on pay and head count; reduced the number and pay bill of senior managers by more than a third; reduced talent pay by £35million since 2008; and we have cut the number of buildings in the UK and overseas – all helping to us to save £1.1billion a year.’

Last month Noel Edmonds launched a stinging attack on his former employer, saying the BBC was in a ‘total mess’ and that he expects it to lose its licence fee funding. He told Event magazine: ‘There are too many chiefs, they throw money around, but they don’t know what they are throwing it at.’

Last week two of the BBC’s top executives claimed salary cuts cannot go much further - despite the fact they are paid a combined £690,000-a-year.

Strategy chief and former Labour MP James Purnell, who earns £295,000, and finance director Anne Bulford, on £395,000, were accused of ‘scare tactics’ as they threatened to slash the programming budget to save more money.

Miss Bulford said ‘tough choices’ would have to be made over which services are cut as further belt-tightening in pay, staff numbers and the property portfolio is impossible.

Meanwhile Mr Purnell – who is a former Labour cabinet minister – refused to rule out the closure of another TV channel such as arts station BBC4 to save cash.
Meet Tony Hall: The BBC Director General on £450k salary

But Tory MP Philip Davies claimed there was ‘plenty more fat to be cut from the BBC’s bloated management’ and accused them of trying to frighten viewers into supporting an increase in the licence fee.

REVEALED: BBC BOSSES EARNING DOUBLE OR MORE THAN THE PM

Tony Hall, Director General - £450,000. Took the top job at the BBC after being chief executive of the Royal Opera House. Previously he ran BBC News and launched Radio 5, News 24, BBC News Online and BBC Parliament.

Anne Bulford, Managing director for finance and operations - £395,000. Lord Hall appointed his former colleague to a top post at the corporation without the job being advertised.

Peter Salmon, Director, England - £387,900. Joined as a trainee in 1981 and rose to run BBC1 before taking his current role.

Helen Boaden, Director, BBC Radio - £352,900. As a result of the Savile scandal, Ms Boaden was forced out of her previous job, head of BBC news, where she was in charge for seven years, after being criticised for her poor management skills. She was appointed BBC radio chief instead.

James Harding, Director of News and Current Affairs - £340,000. Former editor of The Times Newspaper, Mr Harding took over the post which was vacated by Helen Boaden.

Danny Cohen, Director TV - £327,800. Former BBC 1 controller was also in charge of BBC3, where he commissioned Snog, Marry Avoid and Hotter Than My Daughter. Defending his salary recently he said: 'The executives continue to be well-paid, but if we went to commercial organisations we'd be paid roughly double'.

Bal Samra, Commercial Director - £322,800. Also has the title of Managing Director TV. Once claimed £1,100 expenses on a ‘thank you meal’ for 22 colleagues to mark the end of a project.

Ralph Rivera, Director, future Media - £309,000. American-born executive is in charge of BBC interactive and BBC online.

James Purnell, Director, Strategy and Digital - £295,000. Former Labour MP and Cabinet minister.He served as both Culture and Work and Pensions Secretary under Gordon Brown. Mr Purnell previously worked at the BBC as head of corporate planning from 1995 to 1997 under former director general Lord Birt.

Valerie Hughes D'aeth, Director HR - £295,000. HR boss joined in August.

Alan Yentob, Creative Director - £183,000 - plus £150,000 for presenting role. Last year Yentob justified his own pay by saying he was ‘valuable’ to the BBC because of his ‘relationship with talent’ and ‘understanding of the networks and the schedules’.

[steevo]

Frankly at this point in time I would directly blame the Prime Minister and elected officials for allowing the BBC to continue at taxpayer expense.

[Teddy Bear]

The tail is wagging the dog!