BBC splurges MILLIONS on private healthcare for fat-cats – and YOU'RE paying
EXCLUSIVE: THE BBC is splurging millions of pounds on private health insurance for corporation fat-cats, Express.co.uk can reveal.
BBC bosses spent £553,000 on private health insurance last year
Shocking new figures show broadcasting bosses spent an eye-watering £553,000 on insurance policies from Bupa last year alone.
It means 322 pampered BBC employees – mostly managers – receive access to world-class healthcare, with hard-up taxpayers left to foot the bill.
The staggering cost comes despite the BBC stopping offering the package to new members of staff five years ago.
The BBC admitted just two years ago the cost to the taxpayer was a third higher.
The figures, obtained under Freedom of Information laws, have provoked outrage at a time when the corporation faces pressure to slash costs.
Harry Davis, campaign manager at the Taxpayers' Alliance pressure group, attacked the BBC's lavish spending.
The news will heap pressure on director-general Tony Hall to cut costs
The licence fee shouldn't be spent on luxuries
He said: "It's crazy that the BBC continues to spend thousands of pounds of licence fee payers' cash on private healthcare for its staff.
"The licence fee shouldn't be spent on luxuries for BBC staffers that many hard-pressed families can't afford for themselves.
"These are exactly the kind of generous perks seen all too often in publicly-funded organisations – they must be eliminated across the board."
John Whittingdale wants to make the BBC's spending more transparent
The disclosure comes after Express.co.uk revealed eight executives are earning twice as much as the Prime Minister.
Director-general Tony Hall pockets a staggering £450,000 a year while finance chief Anne Bulford – whose job was not advertised – earns £395,000.
James Harding, the head of News and Current Affairs, is on £340,000 a year while ex-MP James Purnell makes £295,000 a year as director of Strategy and Digital.
Culture Secretary John Whittingdale has announced a raft of changes in a bid to improve transparency over how the licence fee is spent.
From next year Mr Hall has agreed to name the stars who earn more than him – believed to include Gary Lineker, Chris Evans and Graham Norton.
Defending the new figures, a BBC spokesman last night said: "The BBC stopped private medical insurance for new senior managers four years ago.
"As contractual entitlements lapse, the total cost to the BBC has reduced by 35 per cent since 2014."