BBC: Pay

(asked on 16th September 2020) - View Source
Questioner
Matthew Offord Portrait
Matthew Offord
(Conservative - Hendon)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made for the implications of his policies of the BBC's publication of salaries paid to presenters this year.

Answered by
John Whittingdale Portrait
John Whittingdale
This question was answered on 23rd September 2020

  • The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of Government, and therefore talent pay is a matter for the BBC.

  • However, we expect to see the BBC using its substantial licence fee income in an appropriate way to ensure it delivers value for money for UK audiences.

  • The public deserves to know how their licence fee is being spent, which is why in the Royal Charter the government required the BBC to publish the salary details of all BBC staff and talent paid over £150,000. This was published for the first time as part of the BBC 2016/17 annual report.

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