BBC report shows rise in staff numbers
Nearly 400 new jobs were created at the BBC last year, according to the Corporation's Annual Report.
The report, published today June 21, reveals that staff numbers increased by 388 in the year ending April 2000 to 23,640. However the annual rise of 1.7% in staff was less than the 3.1% increase reported in 1998/99.
Some areas of the BBC shed staff during 1999, particularly the Resources Directorate, provider of many technical facilities, which cut 261 jobs, equal to 6.4% of its total. Redundancy payments contributed to Resources' spend of £8.9m on restructuring.
Other areas expanded significantly, with BBC Worldwide increasing its staff by 11%, and Production and Broadcast jobs rising by 2.6%.
Top executive pay also increased over the course of the year, with most members of the BBC's Executive Committee receiving pay rises above the 2.6% increase given to staff generally.
Fat cat pay among BBC bosses has become a controversial issue with staff, and led to industrial action during pay talks in 1998. At the time union members expressed outrage at the generous pay rises and bonuses enjoyed by top managers.
Ex-Director-General John Birt caused deep resentment with a succession of personal increases that took his basic pay up to a third of a million pounds. An increase of 3% in the DG's salary last year puts his successor Greg Dyke on £341,000 p.a.
In last year's pay round unions called for executive pay increases to be no more than the 2.6% rise given to staff in August 1999. Management refused to cap top managers' rises, but indicated that the executive increases in 1999, now made public in the Annual Report, would be closer to the staff rise than before.
Some of the Executive Committee actually received increases less than 2.6%, but bonuses ranging from £18,000 to John Birt's staggering £159,000 helped to keep overall increases comfortably above the staff rise.
BECTU and the NUJ are currently balloting their BBC members on a 3% pay offer, which includes several improvements in conditions of service and treatment of contract staff, and are recommending that it should be accepted.
| BBC Executive pay 2000 | |||
| Basic pay 2000 | Increase 1999 | Bonus 1999 | |
| Greg Dyke | 341,0001 | n/a | nil |
| Matthew Bannister | 188,000 | 2.2%2 | 26,000 |
| Colin Browne | 179,000 | 2.9% | 21,000 |
| Mark Byford | 188,000 | 1.1%2 | 30,000 |
| Rupert Gavin | 254,000 | 2.0%2 | 40,000 |
| Tony Hall | 193,000 | 3.8% | 30,000 |
| Patricia Hodgson | 179,000 | 2.9% | 26,000 |
| Margaret Salmon | 185,000 | 6.3%3 | 27,000 |
| John Smith | 179,000 | 4.1% | 22,000 |
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1 Extrapolated - joined November 1999 2 1998 figure extrapolated 3 Partly due to new job July 1999 All figures from BBC Annual Reports 1998/99 and 1999/2000 |
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