MPs to demand BBC bosses publish how many of their stars are paid more than the Prime Minister
Ministers want the Corporation to publish the salaries of stars earning more than £143,000 a year
MPs will today demand BBC bosses publish the salaries of all stars paid more than the Prime Minister.
Beeb chiefs claim revealing total pay would make it easy for rivals to poach top names.
But a hard hitting report by the Culture, Media and Sport committee insists earnings are “common knowledge in the industry” and should not be “hidden”.
MPs said there was “no good reason” why the identities of BBC stars earning over £143,000 shouldn’t be laid bare.
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Acting committee chair Damian Collins said it was “disingenuous” for Auntie to claim it needs confidentiality to stop rivals channels stealing their talent.
The BBC, who rake in £3.7billion in licence fee revenue, spent around £208million on “talent” last year.
Around 120 stars earn more than £150,000.
And nine presenters were paid more than £500,000.
Some of the highest earners on the payroll include Graham Norton, Chris Evans, and Gary Lineker.
Mr Collins said: “On the question of pay, the point is that all these salaries are paid by the licence fee payer, whether they are for broadcasters or BBC executives.
“Why should there be different rules for each?
“It’s disingenuous to say confidentiality is needed to prevent poaching when in general everyone in the industry knows what everyone else is getting paid.
“The threshold should be the same for both executives and talent, the salary of anyone getting paid more than the prime minister should be published.”
Publishing a report on the proposals set out in the Government’s BBC White Paper, MPs also criticised the appointment of a senior boss without an open public competition.
Rona Fairhead – currently head of the BBC Trust – was appointed chairwoman of the new BBC unitary board until 2018.
The committee also recommended the BBC sets up a “Scottish Six” news programme, anchored and broadcast from the country and with a running order of Scottish, UK and international stories.