MPs attack BBC secrecy over salaries
Maria Esposito
guardian.co.uk,
January 22 2008
A committee of MPs has criticised the BBC for refusing to disclose the
salaries of its highest paid stars and effectively accused the corporation
of spinning audience figures.
In its review of last year's BBC annual report, published today, the Commons
culture, media and sport select committee said it was disappointed with the
corporation for withholding details of wages paid to its onscreen talent at
a session held in July last year.
The BBC Trust chairman, Sir Michael Lyons, the BBC director general, Mark
Thompson, and the corporation's finance director, Zarin Patel, presented
evidence at the session last year, following publication of the
corporation's annual report and accounts for the year ending March 31 2007,
but declined to break down costs for its high-profile stars.
The broadcaster also refused to disclose any star's salary details in later
written submissions. The BBC Trust defended this move at the time, saying
that revealing these costs would "cause commercial prejudice to the BBC" and
breach confidence. The broadcaster did, however, provide figures for its
other employees.
It was not clear why the BBC Trust differentiated between costs for talent
and off-screen employees, the committee said in its report today. It was
also unclear why issues of data protection only applied to actors and
presenters and not the BBC's trustees and executive board.
The committee, which is chaired by Conservative MP John Whittingdale and
includes Labour MP Rosemary McKenna, also attacked the BBC for failing to
reveal how much licence fee payers contribute to the Freesat service, which
the corporation is planning to launch as a joint venture with ITV.
In addition, the committee took exception to viewing figures submitted for
BBC3. BBC executives provided three-minute reach figures for BBC3 viewing,
rather than the industry standard 15-minute reach figures, the culture
select committee noted.
In today's statement, the 11 MPs on the committee said they were dismayed
that viewing figures for BBC3 included repeats of popular BBC1 programmes.
Overall the committee said it was disappointed with the BBC's attitude. "We
hope that in future years the BBC will provide a more robust response which
makes clear where accountability lies for particular issues, and that the
BBC takes advantage of its new governance arrangements to take a more
constructive approach to responding to parliamentary scrutiny," said the
committee in its conclusions.
The culture, media and sport committee is appointed by the House of Commons
to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for
Culture, Media and Sport and its associated public bodies.
Lyons and the BBC Trust are conducting an independent review of talent costs
and plan to publish the results later this year.
The broadcaster came under fire after a series of embarrassing leaks about
how much it pays its star presenters including Terry Wogan, Chris Evans and
Jonathan Ross, who is the highest paid presenter in British broadcasting
history with a three-year deal reportedly worth around £18m.
A BBC Trust spokesman said: "In its first year the BBC Trust has implemented
many changes to improve transparency and accountability at the BBC,
including service licences, full explanations for decisions relating to new
services and periods of public consultation.
"We note the committee's report about some specific issues and will consider
its recommendations when preparing this year's annual report."
http://www.guardian.co.uk:80/media/2008/jan/22/bbc.television1?gusrc=rss&feed=media
date: Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:24:57 -0000
author: Mike Terry
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