Comptroller and Auditor General’s opinion on pay disclosures

I have conducted independent assurance procedures on the disclosures included in the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Annual Report arising from the requirement under the Royal Charter for the continuance of the BBC (the Royal Charter) to publish the names of all senior executives of the BBC paid more than £178,000 from licence fee revenue in that financial year; and the names of all other staff of the BBC paid more than £178,000 from licence fee revenue in that financial year set out in pay bands for the year ended 31 March 2026.

These disclosures comprise the Pay Disclosures as set out in the BBC’s Annual Report (the subject matter) (the “Pay Disclosures”).

My work is conducted in accordance with International Standards on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) (UK) 3000 Assurance Engagements Other Than Audits or Reviews of Historic Financial Information.

Respective responsibilities of the BBC Board and the Comptroller and Auditor General

For the reporting year covered by this report, the BBC Board was responsible for publishing information required by the Royal Charter as follows:

• the names of all senior executives of the BBC paid more than £178,000 from licence fee revenue in that financial year; and
• the names of all other staff of the BBC paid more than £178,000 from licence fee revenue in that financial year set out in pay bands for the year ended 31 March 2026.

I am responsible for providing an opinion on whether, in all material respects, the subject matter is complete and accurate and has been properly prepared in accordance the BBC’s policy.

In conducting this work, my staff and I have complied with the Financial Reporting Council’s Revised Ethical Standard 2024. I am independent of the BBC in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to my procedures. My staff and I have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.

My staff and I have applied International Standard on Quality Control (UK) 1, and accordingly maintain a comprehensive system of quality control including documented policies and procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

My approach

I have performed a reasonable assurance engagement as defined in ISAE 3000. A reasonable assurance engagement is to perform such procedures as to obtain information and explanations which I consider necessary to express an opinion on whether, in all material respects, the Pay Disclosures (the subject matter) are complete and accurate and have been properly prepared in accordance with the BBC’s policy.

My work consisted of:

• Understanding the process adopted by the BBC to derive the Pay Disclosures, in line with its policy, in particular the completeness and accuracy of information used;
• Testing the completeness of disclosures, including:
• Cross-reference to my BBC Group audit procedures relating to payroll and expenditure;
• Comparison to the prior year and my understanding of the BBC;
• Review of individuals paid in the subsequent month who have been paid close to the disclosure threshold in 2025/26;
• Agreement of staff disclosure to payslips or, where staff are not paid via BBC payroll, agreement of spend back to other evidence such as contracts;
• Agreement of the spend per individual paid more than £178,000 of licence fee revenue into the appropriate salary banding;
• Review of the accompanying commentary for reasonableness and clarity around the basis of disclosure.

Inherent limitations

My assurance procedures have been designed to provide reasonable assurance. The objective of a reasonable assurance engagement is to reduce engagement risk to an acceptably low level in the circumstances of the engagement as the basis for a positive form of expression of my conclusion. It does not, however, eliminate this risk entirely. In particular, in preparing the disclosures, the BBC Board is required to make judgements which inherently introduces an element of risk.

My work has been undertaken so that I might state to the BBC Board and Parliament those matters I am required to in this report and for no other purpose. 

Opinion

Based on the results of my procedures, in my opinion, in all material respects the Pay Disclosures are complete and accurate and have been properly prepared in accordance with the BBC’s policy. This opinion has been formed on the basis of the matters outlined elsewhere in this independent assurance report.