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BBC Public Sector

BBC omitted from government ban on six-figure public sector pay-offs

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By Tony Connelly | Sports Marketing Reporter

July 31, 2015 | 2 min read

The government expects the publicly funded Broadcaster to introduce its own cap after excluding it from the consultation.

Government plans to ban six-figure farewell payments to public sector groups omitted the BBC, despite a series of huge sums to departing staff in recent years.

The Conservative government has begun a consultation on a “public sector redundancy pay cap” which would limit the amount of money outgoing NHS workers, council employees and civil servants could receive.

Instead the BBC and other excluded public bodies such as the Bank of England will be expected to introduce their own limits which should be similar to the Government’s plans and come into effect at the same time.

The consultation said that the government “proposes to exclude the Bank of England, public broadcasters, including the BBC, Channel 4 and S4C, and some regulators from the scope of this policy, given their independence from government.”

Greg Hands, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said that it was “not right that highly-paid public sector workers should receive huge taxpayer-funded payouts when they’re made redundant.” He spoke of the government’s intentions to “invest taxpayers’ money more efficiently on priorities like the NHS and national security.”

The government said that the cap would “save the taxpayers “tens of millions of pounds a year” and would limit payments to a maximum £95,000.”

In 2013, nearly 2,000 public sector workers picked up redundancy pay-offs of more than £100,000 including George Entwistle, the BBC’s former director-general, who received a £450,000 pay-off in 2012 dispite only haven been in the role for 54 days. Mark Byford, the ex-BBC deputy director-general, also received a significant sum on his departure when he was given £949,000 in 2011.

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