BBC deputy head made redundant
By Peter Wozniak
Mark Byford, the deputy director general of the BBC, will leave his post next year as part of a bid by the corporation to cut down on management costs.
Mark Thompson’s number two will step down from his role in June 2011, but will be compensated by a generous redundancy package, much to the chagrin of the right-wing press.
The director general showered praise on his deputy, saying: “Mark has played a critical role in recent years as the leader of all journalism across the BBC and has been an outstanding deputy to me and member of the Executive Board.
“But as part of our commitment to spend as much of the licence fee as possible on content and services, we’ve been looking at management numbers and costs across the BBC, and that must include the most senior levels.”
Mr Byford currently earns £475,000 per year and will step down in June 2011 on the basis that he will receive between £800,000 and £900,000 severance pay.
The move is part of a six-year drive by the corporation, begun in 2007, to cut down on the costs of management and concentrate on programme-making.
Fully 1,800 management jobs are set to go by 2013, of which Mr Byford is certainly the most high profile.
Ten members of the executive board at the BBC, of which Mr Byford was a member, all had their bonuses suspended indefinitely last year by the corporation’s watchdog, the BBC Trust.
The coalition government has taken a particularly strict line with the corporation, arguing it must demonstrate value for money by sharing some of the financial burden on public services.
The BBC has been increasingly at pains to counter criticism, emanating especially from the right-wing press, that far too much focus at the broadcaster was given to managers and executives earning high salaries that could no longer be justified in an age of austerity.
