Plan B

September 1st is just over 2 weeks away. By then, BBC DG Mark Thompson hopes to have a revised scheme to address the BBC Pension Fund fund deficit. The unions think the date is designed to influence their strike ballot, which closes the next day. But Mr Thompson actually needs the new sums to feed to the BBC Pension Fund accountants, who are well on their way to an obligatory three-year evaluation of the deficit.

It's a yo-yo that shows, even with the most astute of investment managers, you can't really buck the market trend. In 2007, the fund showed a surplus of £275m. That swung to a deficit of £470m in 2008, and then an estimated deficit of c£2bn in 2009. The current £1.5bn gap is an estimate made for the BBC Executive, not by the Pension Fund.

The Trustees of the Pension Fund believe actions like the proposed 1% p.a. growth limit on pensionable salaries is a matter for the BBC Executive - though they have asked for a second opinion. And they have agreed that Trustees Zarin Patel and Caroline Thomson will step aside from discussions of this matter, as their principal obligations are as Director of Finance and COO on the Executive side.

The problems for Mark Thompson are real. Putting more of the licence-fee into the pension pot will raise the interest of the coalition and Treasury. Putting some executive perks back into the pot makes only psychological impact (and it's not clear all executives are behind the DG, in this fin de siecle period). Putting any profits from future property sales into the fund is also indirectly using the licence fee that acquired them - and there's no sign of big money coming in for Television Centre anyway.

Zarin and HR boss Lucy Adams were pretty adamant that the 1% cap was the only solution. Now the boss says they've got to find another one that works.