Almost 250 BBC staff including stars such as Victoria Derbyshire, Mariella Frostrup, Naga Munchetty and Dan Snow have challenged the corporation to publish individual salaries and benefits of staff if it is serious about tackling pay inequality at the corporation.

The group, which comprise on- and off-screen staff from across the BBC, have co-signed an open letter calling on the BBC director general, Tony Hall, to deliver on his promise to make the corporation the “most transparent organisation when it comes to pay”.

The signatories argue that Hall’s new strategy to tackle pay inequality and discrimination will not solve the problem, and claim that management is dragging its feet.

Hall announced a five-point plan in January following the publication of a review by PwC of pay for on-air staff, which prompted a major backlash by concluding there was no evidence of gender bias in pay decision-making.

“It’s time for full pay transparency at the BBC,” the letter states. “Transparency about what everyone earns, about how pay is decided, and also about promotion and recruitment across all areas of the corporation. Our pay structure is likely to flatten as very high salaries become harder to justify. It’s the fastest, cheapest, fairest way to begin to tackle unequal pay at the BBC.”



The BBC has said it will improve by providing more information using “narrower pay bands” that it claims will mean “everyone will be able to see the pay range for virtually every job”.

The signatories argue that the only way to fix the problem, which they say has “eroded trust and morale” in the BBC, is to provide more granular information, including on benefits such as pensions, that can mask major differences in pay deals.

“The BBC spends public money,” the letter says. “The public deserves to know how that money is spent.”

They are also critical of the failure to include payments to staff through entities such as BBC Studios, which makes shows including Strictly Come Dancing, DIY SOS, EastEnders, Casualty and Holby City, because it is classed as a commercial entity and does not have to provide such information.

“Publication of individual salaries and benefits, and other payments through BBC Studios and all commercial arms, would have a lasting positive impact on the culture of the BBC and beyond,” the letter says. “[Full transparency] is by far the most effective way to uncover pay discrimination of all kinds, against ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people, or on the basis of age or any other legally protected characteristic.”

In January, Carrie Gracie, who was the BBC’s China editor and one of its most senior journalists, resigned from her post accusing the corporation of having a “secretive and illegal” pay culture.

She has also signed the letter, along with other well-known on-air talent including journalist, writer and broadcaster Samira Ahmed, foreign correspondent Orla Guerin, political correspondent Chris Mason and the Radio 4 newsreaders Neil Sleat and Zeb Soanes.

Last year, the BBC Women campaign group, which represents more than 170 presenters and producers including household names such as Mishal Husain and Jane Garvey, dismissed the BBC’s “no gender bias” report and criticised it for not tackling equal pay.

In October, a review of salaries at the broadcaster found that men were being paid 9.3% more than women on average, and that nearly 500 employees may have been earning less than colleagues in similar roles simply because of their gender. The average gender pay gap for full-time workers in the UK was 9.1% in 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The review found there was “no systemic discrimination against women” at the BBC, but it did not take into account the vast majority of on-air presenters, editors and senior managers.

The issue has been in the headlines since last summer, when a review into star pay revealed that just a third of the BBC’s 96 highest-paid stars were women, and the top seven were all men.

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

The Radio 2 presenter Chris Evans topped the list with a salary of more than £2m, while the highest-paid woman was Strictly’s Claudia Winkleman in the £450,000-£499,999 pay bracket.

“We love the BBC and believe in its values and transparency and accountability,” the open letter concludes. “We want to work with you to help the BBC live up to those values, and to restore the trust of staff and audiences in the BBC’s stated commitments.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “We already have a project planned to look at transparency at the BBC, which will consider, among other things, whether all salaries from the licence fee should be published and what other measures are necessary that wouldn’t put the BBC at a competitive disadvantage.

“The BBC already publishes more information about itself, its operations and its staff than any other broadcaster. We are already committed to going further and faster than any other organisation in closing our gender pay gap. We have set out real targets and have announced a project led by Donalda MacKinnon to do all we can to help the progression and culture for women within the organisation.

“BBC Studios and Worldwide are fully commercial businesses and are not funded by the licence fee. It’s not public money. They have to compete in the commercial market on a level playing field against other commercial business. It would be wrong to put them at a competitive disadvantage at a time when we should be doing all we can to support British content against the global west coast giants.”