BBC Trust Expenses April – September 2013 January 2014 Getting the best out of the BBC for licence fee payers BBC Trust Expenses / April – September 2013 Contents BBC Trust Expenses Report – 1 April – 30 September 2013 1 BBC Trust Expenses Policy 1 Summary of Expenses 2 Fees and Benefits 2 Explanatory Notes 3 Annex 1 Summary report by category Annex 2 Detailed expenses report January 2014 BBC Trust Expenses / April – September 2013 BBC Trust Expenses Report – 1 April – 30 September 2013 BBC Trust Expenses Policy The BBC’s Trustees are committed to observing the highest standards of propriety with respect to the stewardship of public funds and the governance of the BBC. In line with this commitment, and the BBC Trust’s duty to ensure that the BBC observes the highest standards of openness and transparency, the Trust decided in April 2008 to publish Trustees’ individual expenses with effect from April 2007. This report will mark the fifth full year of publication. The Trust’s Code of Practice sets out the principles by which Trustees undertake their duties and provides the expenses policy for the Trust. The Code of Practice is published on the BBC Trust website.1 The policy states that “all expenses claimed by Trustees must be reasonably and necessarily incurred through the course of their duties”. The Trust’s published Code of Practice also provides detailed guidance on what is allowable under this policy. Expenses This expenses report covers the period 1 April 2013 – 30 September 2013. There are two attachments: 1. Summary report by category 2. Detailed expenses report The report covers each of the members of the BBC Trust that served during the reported period, as well as the expenses of the Director of the BBC Trust, Nicholas Kroll. The Director is the chief officer of the Trust Unit as specified in the BBC's Charter. He is the principal adviser to the BBC Trust and chief executive of the Trust Unit. The data included in this report relates to out-of-pocket expenses for which Trustees have been personally reimbursed, as well as travel, accommodation and other support services booked by the Trust Unit for the Trustees through the BBC’s procurement systems. 1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/about/how_we_operate/code_of_practice.pdf January 2014 1 BBC Trust Expenses / April – September 2013 It is the Trust’s policy that travel and accommodation will be provided for Trustees when undertaking their duties. The variation in travel and accommodation expenses between Trustees reflects their different time commitments and duties, the range of activities they undertake and other individual factors, such as the location of their homes. The Chairman and Vice Chairman have additional time and commitments attached to their roles and the National Trustees have specific additional responsibilities related to chairing the Audience Councils. The additional costs associated with supporting these roles are reflected in the individual expenses reports. It should be noted that a number of the Trustees are located outside London and all Trustees are required to travel around the UK to attend Trust meetings and meet licence fee payers in the course of their duties. This expenses report does not include the cost of catering and refreshments associated with business meetings or BBC Trust events. Summary of Expenses Total expenses Trustee April - September 2013 Lord Patten £2,831.29 Diane Coyle £1,130.74 Sonita Alleyne £1,765.95 Richard Ayre £890.41 Anthony Fry2 £678.45 Alison Hastings £5,905.06 David Liddiment £1,457.90 Bill Matthews £3,721.28 Aideen McGinley £4,531.54 Elan Closs Stephens £3,726.26 Suzanna Taverne £946.56 Lord Williams £1,751.90 Total Trustees £29,337.34 Nicholas Kroll £1,607.08 TOTAL £30,944.42 Fees and Benefits The Trustees hold part-time non-executive positions with the BBC. They are not employees of the Corporation and their fees, benefits and expenses are set at a rate to 2 Anthony Fry stepped down as a Trustee in October 2013. January 2014 2 BBC Trust Expenses / April – September 2013 reflect their unique role. This section outlines the fees and benefits paid to the Trustees, as context for the report on expenses. The fees and benefits provided to the Trust are reported each year in the BBC’s Annual Report and Accounts. More information can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport The fees paid to the Trustees are set by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. In September 2010, Trustees took a voluntary 8.3% pay cut (equivalent to a month’s salary), in parallel with the Director-General and the Executive Board. The reduced rates will be in effect until 31 August 2014. The Chairman's fee was reduced from £142,800 to £110,000 (23 per cent) at the start of Lord Patten's term in May 2011. The current rates for these positions are: Position Fee Time commitment Chairman £110,000 around 3-4 days per week Vice Chairman £70,610 around 2.5 days per week National Trustees £37,660 around 2 days per week Trustees £32,952 around 2 days per week The current Chairman, Lord Patten, is not eligible to receive any benefits other than his fee, and has elected not to make use of a BBC driver. The other Trustees are not eligible to receive any benefits other than their fee. Explanatory Notes Specific notes on terms used in the expenses data are included below: 1. Business entertainment – external Covers any business entertainment provided to external parties. Trustees can only claim the cost of business related hospitality. The Code of Practice recognises that liaising with a range of stakeholders is an expected part of a Trustee’s role, but requires that there is a demonstrable and appropriate business reason for providing hospitality. 2. Business entertainment – internal Covers any business entertainment provided to BBC staff members. Again, the Trust Code of Practice rules apply to internal entertainment as well as external entertainment, and only business related hospitality can be claimed. 3. Subsistence Covers meals when working away from home. January 2014 3 BBC Trust Expenses / April – September 2013 4. Mileage Covers costs payable to Trustees using their own car when travelling on BBC business. The standard public service mileage rate is used to calculate the claim (45p/mile up to 10,000 miles and 25p/mile over 10,000 miles during the period in question). 5. Accommodation Covers the cost of accommodation when away from home on BBC Trust business. Accommodation costs listed are per booking and therefore may cover more than one night’s accommodation and meals and sundries such as breakfast tray charges at the accommodation. If several nights’ accommodation have been listed as one cost, this has been noted. Where accommodation was in London and therefore likely to incur higher hotel rates, this has also been noted. 6. Travel (other costs) Covers travel costs not included under other headings, such as parking or road tolls. 7. Flights Covers the cost of flights incurred on BBC Trust business. All reported flights are UK domestic unless marked. 8. Cars Covers use of cars with drivers when on Trust business (including mini cabs, taxis, and long distance private hire cars). Reported single car costs include journeys that may cover several destinations. Cars may be shared between Trustees. In some cases, cars have been booked for long distance journeys where this was most cost effective with regard to Trustee time and/or completion of Trust business. 9. Rail Covers the cost of rail journeys to attend BBC Trust business. 10. Other expenses Covers other categories that may be claimed in accordance with the Code of Practice. This includes any costs, such as office supplies, which do not fit under the other categories. Other 11. Negative amounts Occasionally, negative amounts are shown in the report. These are refunded costs, for example when a travel booking has been cancelled. Direct refunds have been removed from the report. 12. Personal data Under the Data Protection Act 1998 personal data has been removed from the published expenses. January 2014 4 BBC Trust Expenses / April – September 2013 Transaction dates Expenses processed via BBC Procurement systems are reported at the point of being processed by the finance systems. Expenses processed via the BBC’s e-expenses system are reported at the point of being incurred to ensure as complete a set of data for the reporting period is reported. For this reason the attached report may contain a small number of expenses that were incurred in the previous reporting period. Scrutiny Trustees’ expenses are scrutinised by the Trust’s Finance Committee every six months in line with the Trust’s Code of Practice. January 2014 5 Annex 1 TABLE 1: TRUSTEE EXPENSE APRIL 2013 - SEPTEMBER 2013 Business Business Name of Trustee Accommodation Entertainment - Entertainment - Cars Flight Mileage Other Expenditure Rail Subsistence Travel - other Grand Total External Internal Lord Patten £582.33 £0.00 £0.00 £1,403.16 £658.75 £0.00 £0.00 £168.55 £18.50 £0.00 £2,831.29 Diane Coyle £173.33 £16.83 £72.23 £182.26 £493.29 £0.00 £0.00 £192.80 £0.00 £0.00 £1,130.74 Sonita Alleyne £375.83 £0.00 £0.00 £463.32 £565.50 £0.00 £0.00 £361.30 £0.00 £0.00 £1,765.95 Richard Ayre £321.02 £0.00 £0.00 £85.09 £172.30 £0.00 £0.00 £312.00 £0.00 £0.00 £890.41 Anthony Fry £141.66 £0.00 £0.00 £0.00 £423.79 £0.00 £0.00 £113.00 £0.00 £0.00 £678.45 Alison Hastings £1,927.69 £0.00 £0.00 £298.07 £0.00 £103.50 £0.00 £3,460.90 £0.00 £114.90 £5,905.06 David Liddiment £425.00 £0.00 £0.00 £304.14 £507.26 £0.00 £0.00 £221.50