BBC bosses are overpaid - Cameron
Senior staff at the BBC are being paid more than they should be,
Conservative leader David Cameron has said.
He argued that director-general Mark Thompson - who earns more than
£800,000 a year - had "one of the best jobs in the country".
He told BBC Radio 4's The World at One: "I don't think it's quite
necessary to pay such high wages to staff."
But Mr Cameron said he was not "piling in" to the row over prank phone
calls by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross.
'Licence fee refund'
He added that a future Conservative government could use savings from
the digital switchover to cut the TV licence fee.
The most recent BBC funding settlement included £800m for this project,
which is due to be completed in 2012.
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It also allowed for the licence fee - currently £139.50 for colour TV -
to rise to £151 by that date.
Mr Cameron said: "The BBC was given extra money for digital and if that
money isn't spent on digital, I think instead of finding new ways to
spend it, perhaps that money could be given back to licence fee payers."
But he said he was "sceptical" of suggestions of "top-slicing" the
licence fee to help close Channel 4's funding gap.
Mr Brand has resigned as a Radio 2 DJ over the messages left on actor
Andrew Sachs' answering machine, while Mr Ross has been suspended
without pay for 12 weeks.
In an article in the Sun newspaper, Mr Cameron called the prank, which
was recorded and later broadcast, "sick".
'Over-managed'
He also said the BBC was "bloated", adding it had "lost touch with the
values of the people who support it".
Widespread condemnation of the phone calls has focused attention on the
salaries paid to BBC presenters and executives - Mr Ross earns £6m a
year.
Mr Cameron told The World at One: "I think this is a moment not to go on
and on about Brand and Ross but actually to say, hang on a second,
actually in some areas, the BBC has got over-managed, too bureaucratic.
"There are issues of overpayment, issues of it piling in to areas where
sometimes it can crush small businesses starting up on the internet or
in education or in tourism, where perhaps it shouldn't be going.
I think we are heading towards a period where it is probably the
case that we will be able to secure the best entertainment talent for
less than we have been able to do in the last few years
Mark Thompson
BBC director general
"And I think, for those of us who like the BBC, who want it to thrive -
and for those of us who actually support the licence fee, which I do - I
think it's quite a good moment to say let's stand back and try and get
this right for the future."
Discussing senior staff pay, Mr Cameron said: "There's a kudos to
working at that level in the BBC just as there is in any walk of life."
Given the attraction of working for the organisation, senior executives'
salaries had risen above "where they should be", he added.
On Sunday, Mr Thompson told BBC One's Andrew Marr show: "I think we are
heading towards a period where it is probably the case that we will be
able to secure the best entertainment talent for less than we have been
able to do in the last few years."
But he said he was paid "significantly less" than his opposite numbers
at ITV and Channel 4, as were on-air presenters and other senior
executives.
Story from BBC NEWS:
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Published: 2008/11/03 17:25:02 GMT
Monday, 3 November 2008
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