The BBC is end the high pay culture for executives and will phase out private medical insurance for senior staff, said BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten of Barnes.
In his speech, The BBC – Old Values, New Technologies, Patten announced that in order to address the ‘toxic’ issue of executive pay, the organisation will introduce a new pay structure to promote transparency of pay in the public sector.
The BBC will introduce a pay multiple which will show how the pay of senior executives compares to the rest of the organisation by comparing the median pay of executive board members to median pay within the BBC.
The multiple will be regarded as a cap to manage executive pay.
Patten said: “Licence fee payers don’t expect the BBC to pay sky-high commercial rewards to people that work for a public service.
“They do expect the BBC to deliver the highest quality programmes and services. It needs – and indeed it has – excellent people to do that. The challenge is to balance these demands in the right way.”
Patten also announced that the bonus freeze for the most senior managers will continue: “No executive board member will get a bonus in future – the public service BBC needs to distance itself, in this way, from the market.
“And private health insurance will be phased out for senior managers. Senior staff shouldn’t have those sorts of benefits if they are not available to everyone.
“This action on pay is important. Because the BBC must do right by the licence fee payers who pick up the bill and by all the staff that work throughout the organisation at every level.”
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