Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with the BBC on levels of remuneration of working class employees.

The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of the Government. Employee remuneration is therefore a matter for the BBC, and the individuals themselves.

The BBC’s Framework Agreement sets targets for the make-up of its workforce by the end of the current Charter. This includes a target for 25% of the workforce to be from low socio-economic groups. In its Annual Report the BBC reports on its performance against this target, as well as its pay gaps, including the socio-economic pay gap.

As part of the next Charter Review, the Government will engage with the BBC and others to consider how to ensure the BBC thrives well into the next decade and beyond. This will include discussions between the Culture Secretary and the BBC on a range of important issues.