Top BBC earners' salaries published online
Top BBC earners' salaries published online
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Thursday, 12, Nov 2009 03:58
By Lewis Bazley.
The salaries and business expenses of more than 100 of the BBC's most senior members of staff have been revealed in a move for greater transparency.
The figures, which reveal director general Mark Thompson spent claimed almost £650 for a stay in a Las Vegas hotel, are available on the About the BBC section of the corporation's website.
The salary revelations also show creative director Alan Yentob claimed over £3,000 for a return flight to New York while Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt submitted an expenses claim of close to £550 for climbing equipment for the Comic Relief charity ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro.
"Today's quarterly disclosure is a significant move for the BBC in our continued commitment to achieving ever greater openness and transparency to the public who pay for the BBC," commented chief operating officer Caroline Thomson.
"The launch is a direct response to the public who have indicated that they would like more information about how the BBC is run in a way which marks a step change in openness, simplicity and accountability."
The publication was welcomed by shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, though he called for confirmation of the salaries' of the BBC's highest-earning celebrity employees.
"This is good news as far as it goes and I welcome it as a step in the right direction," Mr Hunt said.
"They can't stop here though. We must see a full breakdown of what the BBC pays their celebrity talent - it is licence fee payers money and full transparency is a must."
The corporation will confirm a "precise total amount" spent on talent in early 2010, Ms Thomson stressed.