Letter: Rate for the job at the BBC

Rate for the job at the BBC

Sir: Rob Brown has the right to his view that senior executives with the very real privilege of working for the BBC should be remunerated less well than elsewhere in the media ("What price public service", 9 July). However, quite how such a policy could be expected to maintain a management team of the calibre to run Britain's largest and arguably most important media company is less clear - a point emphasised by recent appointments such as Michael Jackson at Channel 4 (from the BBC) and ITV's new chief executive.

The BBC has a single pay policy, across all its grades - of paying at a level necessary to attract and retain staff of the right level. At the most senior level rates of pay remain modest in comparison with the incentive packages available elsewhere in the industry. A few senior executives have had rises reflecting a major increase in their responsibilities, but on average they have been much lower than newspaper stories have implied.

COLIN BROWNE

Director of Corporate Affairs

BBC

London W1