Last week I brought you the curious snippet that George Entwistle had missed out on an even bigger BBC pension because he joined the scheme just after a cap on pensionable salary was introduced in 1989.
But what about Tony Hall, the new director-general? On leaving the BBC in 2001, he was entitled to an £82,000 pension when he reached the age of 60, according to page 52 of the corporation’s annual report from 2001.
Under the BBC pension rules his entitlement will have risen by RPI – or some 40 per cent – meaning he should be liable to draw a pension today in the region of £115,000 At the age of 61, according to pensions expert John Ralfe.
Nothing wrong with that, you might argue. But it is interesting that Entwistle was castigated in some quarters for his pension pot of £877,000.
The Hall pension will not be disclosed until the next BBC annual report. It is possible that the 61-year old had already started to draw his pension when he turned 60, so he may have swapped 25 per ecnt of his pension for a tax-free lump sum, of up to £400,000 under the HMRC rules.
Mr Ralfe estimates that the capital value of his pension, before taking any tax-free lump sum, is in the region of £3m – more than triple the official value of his predecessor.
The BBC refuses to comment on the pension arrangements of its executives.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey