The BBC has confirmed plans to substantially overhaul its on-air pay structure, as a group of 170 female employees have called for back pay, an apology and a pensions adjustment from the corporation.
The broadcaster asked PwC to conduct a review of the current situation, looking at pay for presenters, correspondents and on-air editors appearing across TV and radio. The firm did not find any evidence of gender bias in pay decision-making, but has made a number of recommendations to address "anomalies for both men and women" in a report which was made public on Tuesday (January 30).
"PwC makes a number of recommendations including a clear pay framework, narrower pay ranges, simpler contracts and allowances and improved transparency," the BBC said in a statement.
"The BBC wants a fair, equal and transparent pay framework for the future, so we will now consult our presenters on this to help ensure we get it right."
Following news that a number of male on-air presenters including John Humphrys and Nicky Campbell had already agreed and accepted pay cuts, the BBC said there would be "substantial pay cuts for some men and increases for some male and female presenters" as part of its five-point plan to address the gender pay gap.
In a paper called Gender Equality at the BBC, the broadcaster has also publicly pledged to introduce greater pay transparency, including doing "more to explain the pay of each presenter paid over £150,000, especially where they do more than one role".
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It has also promised "a new on-air framework" for pay decisions, including narrower pay bands, a simpler contracts and allowances system, and "clear criteria for how pay reflects skills, experience and audience impact".
And it also pledged to "look at what more we can do to make the BBC a better place for women to work" and promised to speed up its work to achieve 50:50 representation across the corporation by 2020.
The BBC added that it will now consult "everyone directly affected" by these proposals, continuing work it has already done "consulting our unions and talking with some of our presenters".
Meanwhile, the BBC Women campaign group has accused the corporation of failing to ensure equal pay, alongside a number of other offences, and submitted evidence to the DCMS select committee, which is due to meet tomorrow (January 31).
The group includes high-profile presenters such as radio presenter Jane Garvey, news anchor Mishal Husain and morning show host Victoria Derbyshire, who have all criticised the corporation and accused it of previous failure to establish an "equal, fair and transparent pay structure".
"We believe the BBC can put these matters right by admitting the problem, apologising and setting in place an equal, fair and transparent pay structure," the group said in a statement (via The Guardian).
"The BBC should avoid wasting licence fee money on an unwinnable court fight against their female workers over equal pay and immediately agree to independent arbitration to settle individual cases, including back pay and pension adjustments."
The Equality Act 2010 replaced previous anti-discrimination laws and legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.
The BBC Women campaign group has accused the BBC of violating the act with 14 examples, including cases of women being paid less than men for the same job, being on inferior contracts without benefits and accusations of a "bunker mentality" in some quarters when the subject of equal pay was raised.
A spokesman for the broadcaster has strongly denied any breach of the Equality Act, saying: "The BBC is committed to equal pay, and we don't accept the assertion we have not been complying with the Equality Act, nor do we offer inferior contracts based on someone's gender or race.
"We employ people in a wide variety of different ways, from fully employed to freelancer, often to suit the individual, and different types of contracts come with different benefits."
This recent development follows a report published in July that revealed two-thirds of the BBC's best-paid stars were men, as well as serious BAME inequalities.
It also comes a few weeks after the BBC's China editor Carrie Gracie resigned from that post in protest about pay, and John Humphrys and John Sopel were widely criticised following a leaked off-air conversation joking about the gender pay gap. The BBC described the conversation as "ill-advised".
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Kate (they/she) is a freelance writer, editor, digital editorial trainer and data technician who first joined Digital Spy as an overnight freelance sub-editor in January 2011, after studying a postgraduate diploma in journalism at Salford University while working part-time as a social researcher.
In July 2013, Kate joined the DS staff team as chief sub-editor and following six years as the site's managing editor, their role expanded to incorporate Hearst UK's entertainment portfolio (including Digital Spy and its sibling titles Best and Inside Soap) between late 2024 and early 2026.
Kate has worked as a writer and editor since 2006, with bylines syndicated across the Hearst network and at organisations including Metro. They started their career as a TV production runner for the BBC and contributed to various music websites, blogs and zines while based in Manchester.
During her time at DS, Kate has previously been a freelance sub-editor and chief sub-editor.
Kate's team at Digital Spy were proudly nominated in the Best Subbing/Production Team category at the BSME Talent Awards 2022. Over the years, she has contributed to coverage of many, many Prime Days and Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and was part of the team that launched the DS weekly TV newsletter in November 2019 – followed by the Top of the Shops e-commerce newsletter in May 2024.
Kate's screen passions include Taskmaster (their biggest career regret remains turning down the opportunity to visit the house), nature documentaries, and live sport (up there with the greatest of all soap operas although if asked to choose, it's Corrie… every time).
Her highlights while working at DS have included interviewing Stevie Nicks on the red carpet for her documentary In Your Dreams, sitting at a press roundtable with Formula 1 commentary icon Murray Walker, watching a life-sized LEGO car being driven around Silverstone, writing an album-by-album retrospective of Lady Gaga's genre-defying career for Living Legends, and raising awareness of receiving and understanding a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis through the lens of Bianca and Freddie's EastEnders storyline.
Upon remembering to log off the internet, Kate enjoys live theatre, dance and comedy, appreciating nature, baking (badly), tending a recently-rented allotment (equally badly) and pampering one very spoiled rescue cat named Jolene.
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