BBC accused of taking £250000 ‘taxpayer-funded bung’ to move Sports … – Telegraph.co.uk

Northern Irish tourist board and Belfast City Council paid BBC six-figure sum,
after corporation’s governing body relaxed seven-year sponsorship ban

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Now it has emerged that Belfast City Council has put £140,000 towards the ceremony, while Tourism Northern Ireland has handed over a further £99,000 to the corporation. In emails seen by The Sunday Telegraph, Mike Edgar, head of entertainment and events at BBC Northern Ireland, wrote to the tourist board: “I can’t emphasise how important and grateful we are for your commitment to the event as simply without your support we could not have gone ahead.”

Under the terms of the BBC’s editorial guidelines, the corporation is not allowed to take funding for programming, and must use put sponsorship cash solely towards the costs of hosting the event. But the emails suggest that the broadcaster may have come perilously close to breaking its rules. One message to Mr Edgar from the tourist board, asks the executive to detail “the additional programming which may be secured” as part of the sponsorship deal.

The corporation insists that it has not done any deal for extra programming, and said that there would only be a single, introductory mention of the city at the event, which will not feature the logos of either of its sponsors. A BBC source said the broadcaster had been forced to seek sponsorship as this year’s venue is smaller than usual, with less potential to sell corporate hospitality packages. In addition, it is understood that the BBC faces significantly increased costs for security at the venue, because of the political situation in Northern Ireland.

The BBC has been burnt before by sponsorship deals with Sports Personality. In 2008 the corporation’s governing body banned the BBC from seeking a sponsor of the event, in a damning report that ruled that the broadcaster’s editorial integrity had been compromised by a tie-up with Robinsons, the drinks brand.

At the time the BBC Trust said: “It would not be appropriate for the BBC executive to seek a sponsor for Sports Personality of the Year beyond the expiry of the current contract.”

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “This is a ludicrous waste and it’s hard to see just what benefits taxpayers will get for the money they are handing over. Taxpayers in Belfast will find it hard to shake the suspicion that this is anything more than a taxpayer-funded bung to the BBC. Budgets are tight so now more than ever public sector bodies should be looking to make savings, not splashing cash on vanity projects.”

A BBC spokesman said: “All of the money received has gone towards staging the event and we have made no commitment to produce additional programming in return for sponsorship. Taking Sports Personality of the Year around the country has proved immensely popular with audiences so we want all parts of the UK to benefit, and the support from the council and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board was very important in allowing us to meet extra costs in staging the event in Belfast. The rules around such sponsorship are clear.”

The contenders, and their odds

• Andy Murray 8/13

• Jessica Ennis-Hill 9/4

• Kevin Sinfield 7/1

• Tyson Fury 16/1

• Lewis Hamilton 25/1

• Chris Froome 80/1

• Mo Farah 100/1

• Greg Rutherford 100/1

• Adam Peaty 250/1

• Lizzie Armistead 250/1

• Max Whitlock 300/1

• Lucy Bronze 300/1

(Ladbrokes)