BBC pay gap of 9.3% revealed in salary review
The BBC is paying men on average 9.3% more than women, with almost 500 employees potentially earning less than colleagues in similar roles due to their gender, according to a salary review. The survey was launched in the wake of revelations in July that just a third of the broadcaster’s highest paid on-air stars were women. The review found “no systemic discrimination against women,” but called for the BBC to maintain better records and provide clearer pay guidance to managers. Lack of women in senior roles was blamed for the pay disparity. The UK’s average gender pay gap is 18.1%.
Men are being paid 9.3% more than women at the BBC on average and nearly 500 employees may be getting paid less than colleagues in a similar role simply because of their gender, according to a review of salaries at the broadcaster.

The BBC ordered the review into pay after a furore over the salaries of its best-paid stars this summer. The corporation’s pay list revealed that just a third of its highest paid on-air stars were women and the top seven were all men, leading more than 40 of its highest-profile female presenters, including Clare Balding, Fiona Bruce and Emily Maitlis, to publicly call for change.

The pay review claims there is “no systemic discrimination against women” at the BBC but it did not include the vast majority of on-air presenters, editors and senior managers, and trade unions said the broadcaster needed to do better on equal pay.

Jane Garvey, the presenter of Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, who organised a public letter from female stars, tweeted an apparently bemused response to the review:

“Nothing (much) to see here” . Ummm https://t.co/ZDVGsTZb4B — Jane Garvey (@janegarvey1) October 4, 2017

The average gender pay gap in the UK is 18.1%, which the BBC is well below. The government has said that all companies with more than 250 employees must publish their gender pay gap by next April, but the BBC has revealed its figure early.

Tony Hall, the director- general of the BBC, drafted in the law firm Eversheds Sutherland and the accountants PwC to audit the corporation’s pay and commissioned the former court of appeal judge Sir Patrick Elias to review it.

Eversheds and PwC analysed in detail a sample of situations at the BBC where men and women could have expected to be paid the same but the difference in salary was more than 5%. This found that on 8.6% of occasions there was not enough evidence to establish a reason for the disparity other than gender. Across all the BBC staff in the review, this means that 229 men and 248 women could be getting paid less than they should just because of their gender.

Nonetheless, Elias said the pay report found “no evidence from which discrimination could reasonably be inferred” and that where men and women were paid differently for doing the same job it was “far more likely to be an issue of fairness than one of sex discrimination”. Elias called for the BBC to keep better records, do more staff appraisals and set clearer guidance to managers deciding pay.

He said the overall gender pay gap, which measures the median salary of all women against all men, was driven by an “under-representation of women in the more senior jobs”.

Hall welcomed the findings, saying: “Fairness in pay is vital. We have pledged to close the gender pay gap by 2020 and have targets for equality and diversity on our airwaves. We have done a lot already, but we have more to do.

“While today’s reports show that we are in a better place than many organisations, I want a BBC that is an exemplar not just in the media but in the country – when it comes to pay, fairness, gender and representation and what can be achieved. This is an essential part of modernising the BBC. And, if the BBC is to truly reflect the public it serves, then the makeup of our staff must reflect them.”

Q&A What were the top 10 BBC salaries for 2017? Show 1. Chris Evans £2.2m - £2.25m

2. Gary Lineker £1.75m - £1.8m 3. Graham Norton £850,0000 - £899,999 4. Jeremy Vine £700,000 - £749,999 5. John Humphrys £600,000 - £649,999 6. Huw Edwards £550,000 - £599,999 7. Steve Wright £500,000 - £549,999 = 8. Claudia Winkleman £450,000 - £499,999 = 8. Matt Baker £450,000 - £499,999 = 9. Nicky Campbell £400,000 - £449,999 = 9. Andrew Marr £400,000 - £449,999 = 9. Stephen Nolan £400,000 - £449,999 = 9. Alan Shearer £400,000 - £449,999 =9. Alex Jones £400,000 - £449,000 10. Fiona Bruce £350,000 - £399,999 Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback.

Hall has a signed off a collection of measures designed to improve diversity at the BBC. They include a ban on all-male or all-female interview panels and the introduction of “fair pay reviews” every six months that will involve managers at the BBC analysing the pay of their team with the human resources department. A report on the pay of on-air presenters will be published later this year.

Bectu, the media and entertainment trade union, said the BBC should lead the way on eradicating bias against women. Gerry Morrissey, the head of the union, said: “The BBC must not rest on its laurels in respect of the overall gender pay gap. The report finds that the gap is much less than the national average but that should not obscure the fact that inequality is a factor for some staff day in and day out.

“We want the BBC to lead the way to eliminate the bias against women in certain areas of employment and in senior management.”