BBC spent £28m on staff gagging orders

The BBC spent £28million of licence-fee payer’s money on gagging orders for more than 500 staff with payouts of up to £500,000 each.

Figures revealed by the Freedom of Information Act show how in the past five years, 539 employees have received settlements, known as compromise agreements, almost all of which contained confidentiality clauses.

The scale of the pay-outs have led to accusations that the BBC was using the agreements to silence potential whistle blowers and victims of bullying or sexual harassment.

The figures were obtained by The Daily Telegraph ahead of the publication next month of what is expected to be a highly critical report by the National Audit Office.

Lord Patten, chairman of the BBC Trust, has previously admitted the findings will be “difficult” for the corporation.

Stephen Barclay, a Conservative member of the Public Accounts Committee, said: “These payments are at odds with the fundamental values of the BBC and a betrayal of the licence fee payer.

“They expect their hard-earned money to be spent on supporting creative talent and world class programmes, not on payments to silence people.”

Tony Hall, the new director-general of the BBC, was so concerned by the scale of the payments that he introduced a £150,000 cap on severance payments soon after starting his new role.

The highest number of payments were made in 2009, when 95 individuals signed compromise agreements at a cost of £5.4million.

The biggest pay-offs were made to BBC managers, with 77 executives receiving over £100,000 and 14 more than £300,000.