allaboutwomen

The BBC – which you pay for – has not got the hang of austerity. Instead, it now pays 111 of its senior executives more than £145,000 a year. That is more than David Cameron gets as prime minister.

There are 133 BBC managers on more than £140,000 and 310 BBC who earn at least £100,000.

The BBC has been forced to reveal for the first time what its managers are paid – although the figures only show how many employees there are in each pay band, without the details of who earns what. Each band covers £5,000.

Last year, the BBC admitted that 117 of its staff were paid more than the prime minister, who is on £142,500 a year. The BBC had promised to cut what its managers earned by 25% before 2012. It doesn't look good for keeping that pledge to the nation and the taxpayer.

The expenses claims of its senior management also make for interesting reading for anyone who thought the BBC had understood that there was to be no more waste of taxpayer's money. Menna Richards, the director of BBC Cymru Wales, managed to blow £348 on a single taxi fare. The mind boggles as to how far it must have been. But Roger Wright, the controller of Radio 3, did his best to keep up. He threw away just under a thousand pounds on five taxi journeys. In three months, he spent £2,365 on cabs. Perhaps he had thought of buying a car.

A BBC spokesman said: "We do not believe the pay of the prime minister is the right comparator. The BBC is part of the broadcasting sector and typically the BBC has to compete with the private sector where a recent report that found we are paying significantly less for our senior managers than comparable organisations.

"Today's figures also show that the total expenses claimed by the 110 senior BBC executives are now 35% lower than they were a year ago."