BBC chiefs' pay checks to be revealed

The BBC’s annual report to be published today is expected to reveal details of the pay packets of top executives over the last financial year, at a time when jobs were being axed across the Corporation.

Director-general Mark Thompson has already announced that he and senior colleagues are to waive their annual bonuses.

The report will be the first prepared by the newly established BBC Trust, which replaced the old Board of Governors.

The Trust will give an assessment of the performance of BBC channels and how the Corporation is serving licence fee payers.

Following publication of the report, Mr Thompson will appear before the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee to be quizzed by MPs.

The BBC’s board of directors are foregoing bonus payments worth a collective £350,000 (€518,000).

This was due in part to the Corporation failing to meet targets on the number of black, ethnic minority and disabled workers it employs – the result of a recruitment freeze.

The BBC has axed 3,500 jobs so far in a cost-cutting drive.

Staff face more uncertainty over their futures and the BBC cited this as a second reason to waive bonuses.

Mr Thompson said: “I believe that this year is exceptional. Bonuses and the principle that a proportion of total remuneration should be dependent on performance are standard practice for senior managers throughout the public as well as the private sector.”

The director-general has turned down his bonus for the past two years.

Union leaders welcomed the decision, announced a week ago.

Paul McLaughlin, broadcasting officer at the National Union of Journalists, said: “Pay restraint at senior levels of the BBC is long overdue. This gesture must be seen in the context of the salaries they receive. We hope the money saved will be used to save jobs.”