Taxi Driver Online

BBC staff told to use public transport and not buy champagne for 'talent'

BBC staff have been told to use public transport and the corporation's shuttle buses instead of private taxis, as part of a new clampdown on expenses.

The corporation has also targetted treats for its workers, from buying each other leaving presents out of BBC budgets to banning staff from purchasing sandwiches or bottled water for internal meetings.

They are still permitted to buy presents for talent but these should be "modest" and gifts of champagne have been specifically ruled out.

The regulations were outlined in a memo from BBC Vision finance director Derek O'Gara to all Vision staff, as part of a drive to kerb spending on expenses and stave off additional redundancies.

Staff have been specifically warned not to cheat the system by pretending that staff transport is being booked for guests.

When personnel do use taxis, they have also been warned not to keep vehicles waiting around while they are on the meter.

"Waiting time is being monitored at executive and board level," said the email seen by trade journal Broadcast.

Staff will also have to get permission direct from the BBC's finance director or director general if they want to spend more than £50 a head on entertaining talent, including charges for VAT and service.

They have also been banned from hosting away days with independent production companies, with the email warning that, without written approval from a divisional head, meetings must be held on BBC premises or at "nil cost" to the corporation.

Other new rules include a clampdown on the number of staff going to conferences and awards ceremonies. Attendance must now be signed off in writing by the divisional director and will come out of the divisional budget.

A spokesman at the BBC said: "It's a bit of housekeeping; a reitertation of existing policies off the back of Mark Thompson's email [in November]."

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

If BBC staff are going to cheat, then I can see no other better way to cheat than by using taxi/PH.

After all we do have TV Licenses, and a bit back is most welcome.

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IDFIMH

do the bbc use a lot of brighton taxis then ?

I hope the BBC use taxi/PH throughout the UK.

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IDFIMH

what i cant understand is why the BBC pays to ferry "stars" of TV and radio to/from work when said "stars" are all self employed and overpaid...

I don't care as long as the money comes into the trade.

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IDFIMH

neither will I if i ever get any, til lthen its my licence fee they are spending...

these days the BBC use Cabfind for a lot of their work running guests from rural areas to the nearest studios thats where i get most of my BBC work from !

Isn't cabfind similar to frazer eagle. It's part of the Davy Liver Group and as far as I'm aware licensed in Wirral or at least that's where they take their calls. I think their phone offices for this are upstairs from their PH taxi office, but, not for the first time I could be wrong

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Pretty sure with cabfind the punter pays you, as opposed to the other mob were the punter pays them, and then they are meant to pay you.

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IDFIMH

No you send cabfind an invoice I'm not aware of any connection with frazer eagle but cabfind also run our freephone numbers

I don't think so. As far as I am aware they get a job, find out a price, give a price to customer (more than the price given to them of course) and the customer then pays them and they pay the driver. As I said I could be wrong but I don't think I am

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

That's from their website which can easily found by putting Cabfind in Google

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Life? Don't talk to me about life!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjm2eslm6hI

Apparently it would seem that Cabfind don't have a licence and don't think they need one because they are not a taxi office they are a booking agent. IMO the operation they have is illegal but I don't know enough of the law regarding this kind of operation to be sure

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Then they are also acting outside of the 1976 act.

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IDFIMH