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Executives on six-figure salaries charge the taxpayer for parties and presents
Kiran Randhawa, Robert Mendick and Sri Carmichael25 Jun 2009
Thousand pound lunches, taxi rides to rugby, and sky subscription all on expenses. How BBC executives spent taxpayers' money.
Mark Byford
Deputy Director General
Salary: £459,000
Claims 2008-09
Hotels: £763.18
Flights: £134.59
Ext hosp: £273.47
Int hosp: £1155.77
Total: £3300.07
The man in charge of journalism at the BBC submitted a single claim for a £652.57 dinner about the broadcaster's “creative future”. On October 15 last year Mr Byford, who is also in charge of the BBC's coverage of the 2012 Olympics, lavishly wined and dined an unspecified number of “senior editors and leaders” after also claiming for a string of farewell lunches for departing journalists.
He claimed for at least 29 taxi journeys between January and October, including two for an England v Scotland rugby match at £14 and £13. He also charged the publicly-funded corporation three times for his journeys from the World Snooker Final (£7, £6 and £5), as well as submitting a £14 bill to take a taxi to the Shaw Theatre on Euston Road to meet singer Michael Ball.
He also charged the taxpayer £333.02 for a hotel room at the Radisson Martinique, on Broadway in New York, £321.16 for a room in Washington and £100.99 for changing his mind about a flight. He submitted three separate receipts for checking his bag on to the plane, (£8.60, £13 and £12) as well as claiming for £550 on daily newspapers.
In total Mr Byford, who supports Leeds United football team and claims to have “a well-known reputation for an encyclopaedic knowledge of rock and pop music, especially The Beatles”, also spent £7.01 on eating breakfast at Reagan airport in Washington because “no breakfast was provided at hotel”.
Timothy Davie
Director of BBC Audio and Music
Salary: £314,000
Claims 2008-09
Hotels: £69
Flights: n/a
Ext hosp: £2096.71
Int hosp: £3122.28
Total: £6689.88
Mr Davie claimed £160 for a taxi in October 2008 when he tried to book one through the corporation's own taxi service but failed to reach an operator.
Mr Davie, who has an annual salary of £314,000, claimed hundreds of pounds for various meetings and discussion groups.
The former director of the BBC's Marketing, Communications and Audiences (MC&A) division claimed for £537.75 for a board dinner in April 2008 while his duties with the MC&A saw him claim £256.61 for a judging dinner in October 2007.
Also in April 2008, Mr Davie claimed £407.25 for a business meeting to discussion the annual Children in Need fundraising event.
Other meetings saw Mr Davie, who was appointed last September, claimed £200 in February 2008, and also picked up £354.49 for “outstanding work”.
His expenses for the last financial year also included hefty claims for entertainment, putting in a claim for a Christmas lunch of £295.13 in December 2007 and paid £364 towards the staff Christmas party. He also claimed for a thank you lunch with undisclosed people to the tune of £129.77 in July 2007.
Mr Davie also accumulated a host of hotel bills from travelling to Glasgow, Manchester, Cambridge and Wales for corporate events and festivals. He also put in expenses claims for £100 for two bouquets of flowers for staff in May 2008.
Ashley Highfield
Former Director of Future Media and Technology
Salary: £359,000 (2007)
Claims 2008-09
Hotels: £312.15
Flights: n/a
Ext hosp: £2005.95
Int hosp: £2527.77
Total: £6529.24
The corporation's “director of future media and technology” put his Sky subscription on expenses. He was paid £359,000 including bonus in 2007 and now works for Microsoft.
He claimed £52 a month for Sky from January 2004 “in order to be fully informed about emerging digital and interactive
technology”. He also spent £130 in January 2008 on “video gaming software”.
In October 2005, he bought an iPod Touch for £238.00 to “test BBC video services”. Two years later he got another one at the cost of £217.36 - the year in which it was actually released.
Mr Ashfield was in charge of the iPlayer and after it was successfully launched in August 2007, he claimed £237.37 for a “thank you”.
The 44-year-old enjoyed a series of trips abroad. In 2006-2007 alone he went to Las Vegas twice, spending £1,060 staying at the Venetian Hotel for a conference, three trips to Los Angeles, one to San Francisco, one to Seattle and one to Cannes.
In March 2008 he claimed £10.85 for a “catch-up meeting while on paternity leave”. In May 2007 he spent £119.24 on external business entertainment which was “wash-up on recent recruitment”.
And in November 2004 he claimed £1,087.14 for a management dinner before an away-day.
And in January 2007 he claimed 48p mileage for “attending the executive board” in Bush House.
Dame Jennifer Abramsky
BBC's former Director of Audio and Music
Salary: £316,000
Claims 2008-09
Hotels: £385.92
Flights: n/a
Ext hosp: £838.4
Int hosp: £34.58
Total: £1429.95
Dame Abramsky claimed astonishing amounts for farewell and celebratory dinners with staff.
Two highlights are £1137.55 for a dinner to toast Sir Terry Wogan's knighthood in September 2005 and £1406.41 for a meal to mark the departure of Sir Nicholas Kenyon, who used to run the BBC Proms.
The 62-year-old, who retired in June last year after 39 years at the BBC, also spent £992.53 on a business meeting with undisclosed guests to discuss the Charter Review.
Her other expenditure claimed for included £5.96 for wrapping paper for a farewell present in May 2007.
She also claimed £20,00 for a picture frame in October 2006 and £29.99 for a plant the same month.
In September 2007 she bought three bottles of cheap champagne as a gift to artists or production staff for £43.79.
Dame Abramsky was awarded a CBE in 2000 and a DBE in the 2009 New Year's Honours list for services to broadcasting.
Zarin Patel
Chief Financial Officer
Salary: £329,000
Claims 2008-09
Hotels: £1334.69
Flights: n/a
Ext hosp: £1563.22
Int hosp: £2660.54
Total: £6153.88
Mr Patel heads BBC Finance where she has implemented “two major pan-BBC efficiency programmes” and is according to her biography a “key player” in outsourcing “both core and non-core services” to bring “significant savings to programming”.
However Ms Patel has cost the corporation thousands in hotel, lunches, taxis and lavish “thank you” presents.
She claimed £637.66 on entertainment to “introduce” a new KPMG team to the senior finance team in May 2008. Ms Patel worked for the accountancy firm for 15 years before joining the BBC.
Ms Patel spent £800 on a “thank you” in an internal hospitality claim for an Audrey Alexander and £645 for another thank you dinner for fellow member of staff Gerry Murphy in July 2007.
The executive, who used to head the department responsible for collecting TV licence revenue, claimed £375 for a Christmas lunch for her team.
Ms Patel also put in an expenses claim for £100 to “discuss future career options” in May 2008 although she does not specify whose career she was discussing.
Other claims included £1,076 for bed and breakfast at a New York Hotel in May last year and £160.96 for a stay at the Munich Hilton.
Her taxi claims include £16 for a ride back to her office from the first night of the Proms and £35 for “returning from a business trip with a suitcase” although she does not state the destination or where she was coming from.
John Smith
Chief Executive BBC Worldwide
Salary: £380,000
Spent £1,287 for dinner after the BBC Worldwide away day in June last year.
Claims 2008-09
Hotels: £1159.29
Flights: £1159.29
Ext hosp: £639.99
Int hosp: £2440.06
Total: £6908.4
Caroline Thomson
Chief Operating Officer
Salary: £328,000)
Claims include £633 for a cancelled air ticket in May 2004 and £100 for a health club gift voucher for member of staff in August 2004.
Claims 2008-09
Hotels: n/a
Flights: n/a
Ext hosp: £2070.61
Int hosp: £1014.27
Total: £4874.8
Erik Huggers
Claims 2008-09
Hotels: £1801.07
Flights: n/a
Ext hosp: £460.84
Int hosp: £1355.24
Total: £5664.59
Stephen Kelly
Claims 2008-09
Hotels: £441.07
Flights: n/a
Ext hosp: £1890.03
Int hosp: £2509.83
Total: £6531.58
Jana Bennett
Claims 2008-09
Hotels: £1778.79
Flights: £99.44
Ext hosp: £2275.2
Int hosp: £1742.34
Total: £8478.19
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Two words - snouts, troughs
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