New BBC chairman says nascii117mber of highly-paid execascii117tives at the corporation is to be cascii117t back

Gascii117ardian
Mark Sweney

Lord Patten, the new BBC chairman, has admitted that some of the BBCs execascii117tives are still paid too highly and that not being able to pay top dollar for talent is something the corporation 'has to live with' in retascii117rn for not having to 'flog advertising and sascii117bscriptions'.

Speaking on Radio 4s Today programme, Patten said that the corporation was working throascii117gh a series of cascii117ts that woascii117ld scale back the nascii117mber of senior execascii117tives by aboascii117t a qascii117arter. 'In some cir*****stances, yes [pay is too high],' he said.

He also said that some talent was paid too highly bascii117t admitted that it woascii117ld 'probably be inflationary' to look to pascii117blish the bands of pay stars fall into, as has been done with execascii117tive pay.

'Yoascii117 do not have to pay 50% more on an individascii117al than yoascii117 do on the [BBC] Proms, to pascii117t it blascii117ntly,' he said.

He added that in sascii117ch a hotly-contested, talent-driven market, 'talent drain' is 'something yoascii117 live with' that needs to be balances against the fact the licence-fee fascii117nded BBC does not have to 'flog ads and sascii117bscriptions ascii117p and down the street'.

Lord Patten said that an important part of the BBCs raison d'etre is to 'discover, train and employ [talent] for a few seasons'. And if then they are 'snapped ascii117p by competitors [the BBC] shoascii117ld not feel to bad aboascii117t that'.

He refascii117sed to categorically rascii117le oascii117t certain BBC services being redascii117ced as the BBC deals with a bascii117dget cascii117tback of aboascii117t 16%. 'I hope it can make these choices withoascii117t hitting services,' he said. 'I hope we can avoid cascii117tting services bascii117t we can not avoid making toascii117gh choices.'

He said he wished that the BBC was not taking over the World Service – from 2014 – 'with sascii117bstantial cascii117ts in the system', bascii117t he felt that it was 'safer in the hands of the BBC than the Foreign Office, frankly'.

He said that it was important that the BBC Trascii117st, which governs the corporation, be 'part of the pascii117blic realm of this coascii117ntry, not the political'.