Public foot BBC chiefs’ tax advice bills
SENIOR BBC executives used more than £1,000 of licence payers’ money each to get advice on how to reduce tax on their six-figure pensions.
Fifteen of its top earners were given the cash to help protect their retirement nest eggs, it was reported last night.
Among those to benefit are thought to be Mark Damazer, the controller of Radio 4, who earns more than £190,000 a year. The best paid staff are believed to have pension funds worth at least £1.5million each.
Bosses charged licence fee payers hundreds of thousands of pounds for flowers, champagne, lavish lunches and luxury cashmere socks, according to the latest expense claims which emerged yesterday.
Money was frittered away on meals, gifts and hotel stays, laying bare a culture of extravagance which echoes the scandal of MPs’ expenses.
The figures, released yesterday, show that the BBC’s creative director Alan Yentob charged nearly £1,600 for an “executive Christmas dinner”.
Mr Yentob, who earns £310,000 to £340,000 a year, claimed £160 for a dinner to discuss Nigella Lawson’s contract and £60 for a meeting to discuss his own career. Claims of £410,000 were made between 2006 and 2009 by more than 30 executives. Ben Stephenson, head of drama commissioning, spent £309 on eight Jo Malone candles as gifts.
Jay Hunt, BBC 1 controller, spent £900 on toiletries, including £666 on Molton Brown gift sets, and £50 on cashmere socks.
Caroline Thomson, the BBC’s chief operating officer, said the release of the figures showed a “step-change” in the way it disclosed information.