The number of BBC executives paid more than £150,000 (€176,000) a year has increased over a five-year period despite a commitment to make a substantial cut.

The National Audit Office found the number had risen from 89 in January 2012 to 98 in March 2016. The BBC had pledged to reduce the number by 20 per cent. Auditors also found the BBC had missed its target to reduce the proportion of senior managers to 1 per cent of the total workforce by 2015. In December 2016 senior managers comprised 1.6 per cent of the workforce.

From 2010-11 to 2015-16 the BBC reduced the cost of its payroll workforce by 6 per cent in real terms and the size of its payroll workforce by 4 per cent.

A second report on BBC spending criticises the corporation and the outsourcing firm Capita for failing to clamp down on licence fee evasion, which costs £291 million a year.

Capita carried out 3 million enforcement visits on behalf of the BBC in 2015–16, but 18 per cent fewer evaders were caught than in 2010–11 when only 2.7 million visits took place.

Members of the Commons public accounts committee said they were concerned about the conduct of Capita staff after claims that some had targeted vulnerable residents while trying to boost collection rates. “Altogether, the BBC and Capita have much to do to improve evasion and enforcement performance,” the committee said.

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