Patten to detox BBC pay

In the loopy world of broadcasting, who'd have thought that a puppy-ish boy reporter on the Financial World Tonight would turn into the pay guru of the organisation that gave him his start ?  

Lord Patten says the BBC will be the first public sector organisation to implement the basic strategy behind Will Hutton's report on "fair pay", commissioned by Cameron and Osborne in June last year and published in March this year. (NB Hutton and Mark Thompson dined at Ceconi's on 2 September 2010).

I'm pleased to say we predicted some of this last month, and it will mean long-term, that a BBC job is much more like a Civil Service career.

Patten's four points, on which we can expect more detail in a matter of days....

Dealing with executive pay.  George Entwistle's half-price deal as Controller Vision, on £270k, may well set the general benchmark.  I'm guessing that, to allow some growth, £300-325k will be a loose maximum.   Those already on more can expect frozen salaries til they leave - or get promoted into Thommo's boots.

Numbers of staff above £150k: a new benchmark - and probably a good idea, to pull away the focus from the extraordinary number who are paid more that £100k !

Numbers of "Senior Managers": we've written before about the BBC difference between a "Senior Manager" (grade) and a senior manager.  You might hope that Patten and Thompson have devised something that cuts out swathes of both, and the meetings culture that gives them life - but don't hold your breath.

Fairness: Patten is clear that the DG's salary will be linked to some "median" pay level in the organisation. Hutton didn't set out a multiple - but called for transparency.   Average (not necessarily median) pay in the BBC is around £40k.  A multiple of 15 ?