BBC costs ‘under control’ despite big taxi bills

A BBC executive said the corporation was “delivering value for money” on the day it published expenses claims showing senior staff claimed thousands of pounds for taxi journeys and entertaining.

Director of business operations Lucy Adams said the 25 per cent cut to the senior manager wage bill announced yesterday showed that “keeping salary costs under control is hugely important to us”.

The corporation reduced its wage bill for senior staff from £78.53 million to £57.49m in the two years from August 2009. It also reduced the number of senior managers from 640 to 484 in the same period.

Ms Adams said: “The reductions we have achieved in this area reflect our commitment to ensuring we are delivering value for money in difficult economic times.”

Details of expenses claims, from April to June 2011, published yesterday show the BBC’s chief operating officer, Caroline Thomson, one of the corporation’s biggest cab users, claimed £1,748.70 on cars in the three-month period. Ms Thomson, who earns more than £300,000, claimed £100 for a taxi as “no trains were running from Carlisle” after the Radio 1 Big Weekend in the Cumbrian city.

Peter Salmon, who is in charge of the move of thousands of staff from London to the Media City site in Salford, spent £1,115 on trips between the capital and Manchester.

The move has been controversial, with some on-screen talent, including BBC Breakfast presenters Sian Williams and Chris Hollins, refusing to move north.