Dominic Raab
Main Page: Dominic Raab (Conservative - Esher and Walton)Department Debates - View all Dominic Raab's debates with the Home Office
(11 years ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton) (Con)
11. What recent discussions she has had with the BBC Trust on reducing the use of golden goodbye clauses in BBC contracts.
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Maria Miller)
It is right that licence fee payers expect their money to be spent responsibly, and a part of that is ensuring that these matters are subject to the right level of scrutiny. Under the leadership of Tony Hall, a cap on all future severance payments has already been implemented.
Mr Raab
I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. Does she agree that the BBC must comply with the Public Accounts Committee order for disclosure of the 150 senior managers who received pay-offs at taxpayers’ expense? Has she made that clear to the director-general and the chairman of the trust?
Maria Miller
I, like my hon. Friend, believe transparency is incredibly important, and in particular for the BBC for the reasons I have just given regarding what licence fee payers expect. Detailed decisions about the disclosure of personnel information are squarely for the management of the BBC, but I understand the point my hon. Friend makes.