MP hits out at BBC's 'double standards'
THE DUP and BBC have clashed over the broadcaster's continued refusal to publish staff salaries which are paid for by the public.
MP Gregory Campbell has demanded the BBC "get its house in order" on the issue.
And he noted that the BBC was not slow in holding others to account on their wages.
The BBC hit back, saying it does publish senior staff sala-ries in its annual reports, but noting that the Information Co-mmissioner has ruled (on Fr-eedom of Information requests, lodged by the News Letter and others, on this matter) that employees are entitled to privacy.
Since it was revealed that BBC chatshow host Jonathan Ross has a contract for millions, there has been an effort to discover what local BBC big hitters like Stephen Nolan and John Daly earn.
Mr Campbell accused the BBC of hypocrisy – especially given the scrutiny which MLAs are currently being put under, in terms of their use of taxpayers' money.
"Last week there was a media frenzy regarding a possible 16 per cent pay increase for Assembly members," he noted.
"The story was first mooted by the BBC who suggested that they had been made aware of the proposal which was to be contained in a report from the independent body (the Senior Salaries Review Board) which is looking at the issue.
"It subsequently transpired that the Review Board is at a very early stage of it's work and is not due to report until the summer.
"The embarrassment for the BBC worsened as, given that they broke the 'story' and are fu-nded by the same public purse as MLAs are, some people began to question the double standards of publicly funded broadcasters who don't openly declare their salaries demanding answers from publicly funded MLAs who do, regarding the MLAs' 'possible' wage rise."
Those double standards, he argued, are compounded now that information is emerging that a number of broadcasters employed by the BBC have a clause in their contracts which specifically precludes the broadcaster from releasing the details of their salary packages.
"The public do have a right to know how their money is being spent," he said.
"Last month I on behalf of my party tabled a motion in Parliament calling on Parliamentary colleagues to sh-ow restraint in MPs' pay and ac-cept a lower annual pay rise of 1.9 per cent. The BBC did not cover that story.
"Instead they release and pursue this (MLAs' salary) story which appears to be at best five months premature and are guilty of duplicity and hypocrisy in relation to some of their own employees."
Mr Campbell has now contacted Mark Thompson, the dir-ector general of the BBC, asking for his response to this "absurd state of affairs".
The BBC said it was fully committed to openess and transparency.
A spokesman said: "The salaries of the most senior BBC executives have been published in the BBC's annual report for some years and the remuneration for trustees and non-executive directors are similarly published.
“The Information Comm-issioner has made a recent wide- ranging decision on issues relating to the disclosure of salary ranges and other costs by the BBC.
“Presenters work in a highly competitive media market. The Information Commissioner has ruled that, as they are not in charge of editorial budgets or control any public policy, their salaries should not be released.
“In making any decisions about the release of information about presenters or programme costs the BBC must take account of legal considerations.
“These include data protection, commercial sensitivities and also how the Freedom of Information Act applies to the BBC and other public service broadcasters.”
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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