BBC gender pay gap cannot be tackled ‘overnight’, warns corporation

The BBC has said tackling its controversial gender pay gap is complex and cannot be achieved "overnight" following demands by high-profile TV female personalities for immediate action.

The corporation was responding after more than 40 women, including many household names, signed a strongly worded letter open letter to director-general Tony Hall calling on him to "correct this disparity", which they say has been known within the broadcaster "for years".

Presenters Clare Balding and Angela Rippon, One Show host Alex Jones, Antiques Roadshow’s Fiona Bruce and Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis were among those to press for the issue of pay inequality to be dealt with "now", rather than by Lord Hall’s self-imposed 2020 timescale.

:: The BBC gender pay gap is bad – but its class gap is worse

The threatened revolt comes after pay figures for staff earning more than £150,000 showed a significant gap in the salaries of the BBC’s best-known male and female presenters and actors.

A BBC spokesperson said the corporation was committed to closing the pay gap by 2020.

They added: "We have made significant changes over the last three years but need to do more."

In his response to the letter, Lord Hall said he wanted the BBC to be "at the forefront of change", adding that he has made the issue a "personal priority".

He said: "Across the BBC, our provisional figures show that the pay gap is 10% against a national average of over 18%.

"I have committed the BBC to closing the gap by 2020 and if we can get there earlier then we will."

Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme, Equalities Minister Justine Greening said: "I think it’s impossible not to be shocked just how different some of those differentials were."

She added: "The gender pay gap reporting is one way that we can really shine a light on the companies that are doing a good job but also the organisations that have got a very, very long way to go.

"The BBC found out this week that its gender pay gap reporting was really quite staggering to many people.

"It’s very hard to justify some of the big gaps that we saw."

:: Full list of BBC stars earning more than £150k

Backing the signatories, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would "sign the letter with them" and called on the BBC to "look very hard at itself".

He told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: "This gender pay gap is appalling. We would insist on a strong pay audit of every organisation and we’d also look at a 20-1 ratio between the chief executive and the lowest paid staff in every public sector organisation."

Presenter Andrew Marr, who is paid up to £449,999, said he received a high salary because he had been around for a long time.

He added: "But if I had been born Audrey Marr rather than Andrew Marr, I would have been out 10 years ago.

"There’s a real lack of older women on the screen."

(c) Sky News 2017: BBC gender pay gap cannot be tackled ‘overnight’, warns corporation