MPs press BBC to reveal legal costs in countering claims of equal pay and race discrimination
18 December 2020
The DCMS Committee has asked BBC Director-General Tim Davie to provide further information about legal fees accrued by the broadcaster on equal pay and race discrimination cases.
Committee Chair Julian Knight said he is disappointed by a response from the BBC in answer to questions about how much it has spent in legal fees to counter equal pay Employment Tribunal claims and race discrimination Employment Tribunal claims.
The BBC said it was unable to provide a breakdown on its spending on claims because in-house lawyers were salaried and worked on a breadth of employment law issues. It was also unable to provide a total cost for external counsel fees.
Chair's comment
DCMS Committee Chair Julian Knight MP said:
“It is disappointing that the BBC is unable to give answers to our questions about how much it has spent fighting claims of equal pay and race discrimination.
We know that the broadcaster has comprehensive internal accounting procedures and find it difficult to understand why it is unable to provide a such a breakdown.
We are keen to understand, at the very least, the minimum cost of these cases to the BBC and look forward to further information being provided.”
Further information
Image: Brett Jordan