Article originally published 02/08/2016: due to a technical issue this article may have resurfaced for some readers, and the original publish date may not have been visible.
BBC stars earning more than the Prime Minister should have their salaries made public by the corporation, MPs have said.
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee calls for the details of pay over £143,000 for performers, presenters and producers - and not just executives - to be published.
Tory MP Damian Collins MP, acting chairman of the committee, said it is “disingenuous” for the BBC to claim it needs confidentiality to prevent talent poaching by rival channels.
He also said there is no reason why the Government’s plans for a new royal charter set the threshold for talent at £450,000, higher than that for executives.
Reports have suggested Chris Evans, Gary Lineker and Claudia Winkleman are among the top 10 highest earning stars working for the BBC, with many trousering pay packets of more than £500,000.
Collins said:
“The point is that all these salaries are paid by the licence fee payer, whether they are for broadcasters or BBC executives. Why should there be different rules for each?
“It’s disingenuous to say confidentiality is needed to prevent poaching when in general everyone in the industry knows what everyone else is getting paid.
“The threshold should be the same for both executives and talent, the salary of anyone getting paid more than the Prime Minister should be published.”
Theresa May earns £143,462 a year.
Publishing a report on the proposals set out in the Government’s BBC White Paper, the Committee added that it has “serious concerns” about the appointment of Rona Fairhead as chairwoman of the new BBC unitary board until 2018 without an open public competition.
The report also recommends that the BBC should proceed with the ‘Scottish Six’ TV format - a news programme based in Scotland with a running order of Scottish, UK and international stories.