Celebrity pay not for public discussion, BBC tells MPs

Published on Wednesday 3 June 2009 22:04

THE BBC is avoiding scrutiny of its spending because of confidentiality agreements struck with some of its most high– profile stars, according to a report from an influential group of MPs.

The House of Commons public accounts committee said the corporation appeared to be paying some radio presenters double the salaries of commercial station broadcasters.

This comes as reports suggest the BBC is set to cut the wages of Jonathan Ross, who presents a Saturday morning Radio 2 show, upon the expiry of his existing deal at the end of the year.

Ross, who is believed to earn around 6 million a year, also faces losing his billing as the BBC's biggest name, with the announcement that Graham Norton's BBC 2 show is moving to the main channel.

The committee's report, published today, describes as "disgraceful" the corporation's refusal to give the National Audit Office (NAO), a breakdown of presenters' salaries for a selection of radio shows, unless the public spending watchdog signs a non-disclosure agreement.

Committee chairman Edward Leigh said the BBC should not be allowed to dictate what the NAO could inspect when public money was at stake.

The report on the efficiency of radio production said the government should arrange for the NAO to have legally-guaranteed right of access to the BBC's expenditure, including presenters' salaries, as it does for other publicly-funded bodies.

Describing what he regards as a "highly unsatisfactory arrangement", Mr Leigh said: "The NAO has a statutory right to examine the details of expenditure in any government department. It has no such right of audit access to the BBC, despite the fact the corporation is funded with over 3 billion of public money."

The report found programmes such as Sir Terry Wogan's Wake Up to Wogan on Radio 2 cost on average twice as much per hour as the most expensive commercial breakfast show.

"It is disgraceful that the NAO's lack of statutory audit access to the BBC puts the corporation in the position to dictate what the spending watchdog can and cannot see," said Mr Leigh.

The MPs said the BBC's main value for money test, the "cost-per-listener hour," which takes the size of audience into account, risked creating an inflationary wage spiral, and should be balanced with a range of other measures.

While commercial stations have been cutting hourly rates for presenters in response to falling advertising revenues and an increasingly fragmented audience, the BBC has until recently actually been increasing its rates.

The BBC Trust, the corporation's governing body, said it was "disappointed" the NAO would not sign a non-disclosure agreement.