Minister Pressed To Ensure Fair Pay For BBC Staff In South East

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 29th Apr 2003

Salaries for public service staff in the South East must take account of the high cost of living in our part of the country, David Rendel MP told the Government today.

He was speaking in a debate he initiated in Parliament to raise the case of BBC staff working for BBC Monitoring at Caversham - many of whom live in West Berkshire. The value of the Monitoring service has been emphasised by recent events in the Middle East.

Mr Rendel pressed the Minister to ensure that public funding for BBC Monitoring (which is part of the BBC World Service) is adequate to enable a regional cost of living allowance to be paid.

Mr Rendel said:

"House prices in our part of the country are similar to, if not higher than, those in parts of outer London.

"This makes it very difficult to recruit and retain public service workers such as those working for BBC Monitoring in Reading, but also police officers, teachers, nurses and local government officers.

"While BBC World Service staff in London receive a cost of living allowance, their colleagues in Reading do not. This discrimination is unfair. It is based solely on where staff happen to work - not on the costs of living that they face.

"BBC Monitoring provides a highly valuable service, both to Government and to the public. The Government should be more concerned to support the staff who make the service what it is."

Notes:

1. A full copy of Mr Rendel's speech is available on request. The Official Parliamentary record (Hansard) version, including the Minister's response, will be available tomorrow.

2. BBC Monitoring is part of the BBC World Service. Its head office is at Caversham Park in Reading. The organisation's website states: "We operate around the clock to monitor more than 3000 radio, TV, press, Internet and news agency sources, translating from up to 100 languages." (www.monitor.bbc.co.uk)

3. The Minister, in reply to Mr Rendel, said that staff pay at the BBC was an "internal management issue". But unlike the rest of the BBC, which is funded by the licence fee, BBC Monitoring and the BBC World Service are funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. BBC Monitoring also receives funds from the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet Office. For this reason, the question of Government support and funding is highly relevant to whether the BBC can afford to pay regional allowances.

4. BBC World Service staff working in London receive a 'weighting' of £3250 if their basic salary is below £22,000 and of £2912 if it is above £22,000. Their colleagues in Reading receive no such allowance at all - despite facing costs of living, in particular house prices, which are comparable to and often exceed those in outer London.

5. Basic starting salaries for staff at BBC Monitoring, most of whom are graduates with previous professional experience, are well below the £22,000 threshold - under £17,000 for researchers, under £15,000 for research assistants, and £19,000 for language monitors.