BBC Pay Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
Damian Collins
Main Page: Damian Collins (Conservative - Folkestone and Hythe)Department Debates - View all Damian Collins's debates with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
(6 years, 10 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
I share the hon. Lady’s outrage at what we have discovered, and I underline that we have discovered it only because of the transparency measures that were brought in by this House, led by my predecessors, during the royal charter process. She asks specifically about editorial guidelines. They are a matter for the BBC. It is understandable that it might say that people with a strong view should separate that view from their impartial delivery of news, but I would ask whether they observe that in every case, as well as cases about just the BBC.
Damian Collins (Folkestone and Hythe) (Con)
I, too, congratulate the Secretary of State on his appointment.
The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee decided this morning to invite the director-general to come and account for the BBC’s actions on gender pay since the publication of salaries last summer. It is important to see what progress it has made as well as what more needs to be made. Does the Secretary of State agree that this case underlines why we were right to insist on full disclosure of top pay, and not just for executives, but for on-screen talent?
Matt Hancock
I strongly agree with the Chair of the Select Committee, and I welcome his Committee’s scrutiny of this. The BBC resisted the transparency measures, and we are starting to see why.