BBC executives splash THIS amount in expenses in ONE year
THE 99 highest paid executives at the BBC claimed more than £500,000 in expenses between them last year.
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It included one boss spending more than £3,000 on taxi journeys and another claiming £31 for a single breakfast.
Collectively, the managers were paid a total of almost £20million between 2016 and 2017, with an additional expenses bill of just over £500,000.
An additional £55,000 was paid to 32 senior staff who had left with expenses outstanding.
The largest expense claims were made by Ken MacQuarrie, the 65-year-old director of nations and regions. Mr MacQuarrie, who has a £250,000 salary, claimed more than £30,000 in the 2016 financial year.
Among the £30,724.82 he claimed were 137 taxi journeys that totalled £3,217.49.
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He also billed £17,005.93 on flights, flight-related expenses and Eurostar tickets between 2016 and 2017 and £7,087 on hotels.
The second highest claim was £195,000-ayear chief design officer Colin Burns, who claimed for £28,000, and third was £166,000-a year head of news gathering Jonathan Munro, who claimed just over £20,000.
Other expenses included £31 on a single breakfast, made by BBC head of music Mark Cooper at Heathrow airport.
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BBC guidelines suggest a maximum of £6 should be spent on breakfast.
Many of the executives have jobs that require them to travel the globe and the UK as well as attend award ceremonies such as the Baftas.
BBC guidelines on executive expenses released last year are strict and state managers should not generally book first class travel, use taxis, spend more than £16 on dinners when working away or stay at hotels costing more than £138 per night.
The lowest of the claims was 50p, related to a flight from London to Dublin, and lodged by an executive who made £214,400 from 2016–17.
The second-lowest claim was for 51p, with a hotel in Paris listed as the reason for the expense.
BBC
BBC director general Tony Hall, who earns £450,000 a year, was one of the past year’s lowest expenses claimants, lodging £3,220.01 from 2016–17.
The BBC’s deputy director general Anne Bulford, on an annual wage of £435,000, claimed only £1,244.27.
Their example was not followed by their fellow managers, with only four of the BBC’s highest-paid executives claiming nothing on expenses in the past year.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC is a major international broadcaster, and producing world-class programmes and services does involve executives having to travel sometimes. We have strict rules on expenses and these cover essential costs incurred in doing people's jobs, but value for money is always a priority."
