Minister expresses concern over '˜significant pay gap' at BBC

A Cabinet minister has expressed concerns over the 'very significant gender pay gap' at the BBC following the publication of the salaries of the corporations highest earners.

David Mundell has expressed concern over the significant pay gap at the BBC

Scottish Secretary David Mundell told MPs the Government was “concerned” over the disparity in pay between men and women in general as he responded to questions from MPs over the freeze in public sector pay.

Speaking during Scottish questions in the Commons, Mr Mundell pointed to BBC figures which revealed that some senior women were paid less than their male counterparts.

His comments came as he was pressed on the gender pay gap among public sector workers by Labour’s Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower).

She told Mr Mundell: “66% of public sector workers in Wales - another devolved country - are women and I suspect this figure is a lot higher in Scotland.

“In light of this, don’t you agree that the public sector pay cap is now fundamentally unsustainable and not only eroding living standards of women and families but is in fact damaging the economy?”

Mr Mundell replied: “We are all concerned in relation to the gender pay gap and some figures released within the last hour by a public sector organisation would suggest that there are very significant gender pay gap issues at the BBC.”

He defended the Government’s decision to keep public sector wages capped at 1% despite repeated calls from opposition MPs to scrap it.