The Stage

Equity accuses BBC of using members as “political football”

Published Wednesday 10 February 2010 at 12:02 by Matthew Hemley

Equity has attacked the BBC for using its members as a “political football”, following plans to cut the salaries of talent earning more than £100,000 and yesterday’s announcement that the Corporation spent £229 million on actors, musicians and presenters in the year to March 2009.

The union said it has been in “angry discussion” with the BBC about its plans to cut the salaries of actors earning more than £100,000 since they were revealed in June last year, but it is understood that Equity has so far not been successful in its discussions to secure the salaries of its members.

Following the BBC’s announcement yesterday that it spent £229 million on all talent for the 12 months to March 2009, Equity has taken the opportunity to publicly criticise the Corporation for its plans to cut talent salaries, claiming the £229 million is spread over 300,000 contracts, which it says makes the average talent contract worth only £767.

Equity said this compared to some of the BBC’s senior staff earning more than £250,000, and added that plans to cut the pay for talent was “short sighted”.

General secretary Christine Payne said: “Performers are the BBC’s best asset. Viewers do not turn on their televisions to see the likes of BBC director general Mark Thompson, they want to see Equity members in their favourite soaps, dramas and comedies. Yet while Mark Thompson’s salary is safe he is attacking performers who earn many times less than he does.”

She added that plans to cut the salaries of actors appearing in series such as EastEnders and Hustle will “damage the BBC in the eyes of viewers and licence fee payers”.

“This is a cheap shot. They are picking on actors just because they can, solely to appease some rabid anti-public service broadcasting MPs. My members are being used as political football - it is a disgrace,” she added.

However, a spokesman for the BBC said the cuts to salaries was not “a blanket approach” to all talent but a way of reducing the amount the BBC pays in fees to its highest paid performers.

“Artists, presenters, musicians and other contributors are central to the BBC’s ability to deliver high quality and distinctive programming and we know that audiences expect to see and hear them on BBC programmes. Our commitment to reduce the fee for the highest paid performers is part of our commitment to deliver greater value for money to the public. Our recent experience is that artistes are very realistic and recognise the need for restraint in the current economic climate,” he said.

The spokesman also hit back at Payne’s claim that the cuts were designed to “appease” MPs, and added they were part of the BBC’s ongoing commitment to bringing down costs.

Of the total £229 million spend revealed yesterday by the BBC - which is equal to 5.56% of money generated from the licence fee - £115 million was spent on talent earning up to £50,000, £44 million was spent on talent earning between £50,000 to £100,000, £16 million was spent on talent earning from £100,000 to £150,000 and £54 million of the total was paid to those earning £150,000 or more.