BEEB BOSS PUTS A PRIVATE PLANE ON HIS EXPENSES; FIRST MPs WERE EXPOSED FOR ABUSING CLAIMS SYSTEM, NOW.Byline: Nicola Methven BBC BBC in full British Broadcasting Corp. Publicly financed broadcasting system in Britain. A private company at its founding in 1922, it was replaced by a public corporation under royal charter in 1927. CHIEF Mark Thompson This article is about the Director-General of the BBC. For other individuals with the same name, see Mark Thompson (disambiguation) Mark Thompson (born July 31 1957) is Director-General of the BBC, a post he has held since 2004, and a former chief executive of Channel 4. chartered a private jet on expenses, it was revealed yesterday. Thompson, who earns pounds 647,000 as director-general, charged the pounds 1277 charter to the corporation when he had to rush back to London from a family holiday. And the BBC picked up the pounds 2236 bill for his entire family to return home from another holiday last year when he was called back to deal with the Jonathan Ross Manuelgate scandal. The items helped Thompson to run up a pounds 77,823 bill on expenses over five years, making him by far the highest claimant on the corporation's board. The whole board claimed a total of more than pounds 360,000 over the period. Details released by the BBC yesterday showed the pounds 1277.71 cost of chartering a private plane in 2004, when he cut short a family holiday to deal with an "urgent staff issue" in London. The nature of the problem was not detailed in the documents released by the BBC. But a corporation source said he had flown back because of an investigation into Alan Yentob's expenses. Yentob, who was head of entertainment, drama and children's programmes, denied the allegations and was cleared of any wrongdoing. Lewd Last October, Thompson was forced to dash back from Sicily as public anger grew over lewd messages left by Ross and Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand[1] (born June 4, 1975) is an English radio and television personality, comedian, actor, and newspaper columnist. Brand dresses in a flamboyant bohemian fashion describing himself as looking like an "S&M Willy Wonka". on Fawlty Towers Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom made by the BBC and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Only twelve episodes were produced, but the series has had a lasting and powerful influence on later shows. star Andrew Sachs's answering machine. On the same day as his family's flight back to the UK, he claimed pounds 500 for hotel rooms in Sicily. He claimed a further pounds 206 for what is described in the accompanying notes as "holiday cut short". Among the other items he charged to the BBC was the pounds 70 hire of evening dress for a diplomatic corps event at Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace (bŭk`ĭng-əm), residence of British sovereigns from 1837, in Westminster metropolitan borough, London, England, adjacent to St. James's Park. . He also put his subscription to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts - more than pounds 200 - on expenses, as well as nearly pounds 135 for a lunch withTesco. Thompson even managed to claim for some meetings before he started his job in May 2004, including a pounds 140 dinner. And the director-general claimed pounds 99.99 last year for a bottle of champagne - an 80th birthday gift for entertainer Bruce Forsyth. The figures also revealed that 27 of the BBC's top 50 executives earn more than the Prime Minister's salary of pounds 195,000. Jana Bennett, director of BBC Vision, who holds creative control of the corporation's television output and earns pounds 406,000 a year, had the second-highest expenses over the period at just under pounds 60,000. They included pounds 500 for a handbag stolen while she was on business and more than pounds 1900 for flowers. And while Jonathan Ross's misdemeanours cost the corporation dearly in airfares for the Thompsons, Bennett's dealings with him appear more cordial. Her claims included a pounds 100 bouquet for the chat show and radio host. Caroline Thomson, the BBC's chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. , said last night the claims were published after 38 freedom of information requests but insisted there was no "arm twisting". RECORD VIEW: Page 8 RADIO ROW: Andrew Sachs Top 20 BBC fat cats TOP bosses' salaries: MARK THOMPSON, director-general: pounds 647k MARK BYFORD deputy directorgeneral: pounds 459k TIMOTHY DAVIE, director audio & music: pounds 314k JANA BENNETT, director BBC Vision: pounds 406k ZARIN PATEL, chief financial officer: pounds 329k JOHN SMITH, chief executive BBC Worldwide: pounds 380k CAROLINE THOMSON, chief operating officer: pounds 328k PETER SALMON, director BBC north: pounds 370k - pounds 400k ALAN YENTOB, creative director finance: pounds 310k - pounds 340k ERIK HUGGERS, director future media& technology: pounds 310k - pounds 340k HELEN BOADEN, BIG SALARY: Huggers director BBC news: pounds 310k - pounds 340k SHARON BAYLAY, director marketing, communications & audiences: pounds 310k - pounds 340k BALRAJ SAMRA SAMRA Southern African Marketing Research Association (Gauteng, South Africa ) SAMRA Swedish Amateur and Model Rocketry Association SAMRA Secretary of the Army, Manpower and Reserve Affairs , director of vision operations, BBC Vision: pounds 280k - pounds 310k PAT LOUGHREY, director nations & regions: pounds 280k - pounds 310k RICHARD SAMBROOK, director, global news: pounds 280k - pounds 310k DOMINIC COLES, chief operating officer journalism: pounds 250k - pounds 280k JAY HUNT, controller BBC1: pounds 250k - pounds 280k ROLAND KEATING, director of archive content BBC Vision: pounds 250k - pounds 280k DANIEL COHEN controller BBC3: pounds 220k - pounds 250k ED WILLIAMS, director of communications Director of Communications is a position in the private and public sectors. The Director of Communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. : pounds 220k - pounds 250k CAPTION(S): CLAIMS: Thompson RADIO ROW: Andrew Sachs |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion