BBC director general Lord Tony Hall admitted during an evidence section with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that his staff were forced to set themselves up as personal services companies (PSCs).

Hall has publicly apologised to staff who have been forced to change their employment status, causing them to lose sick pay or maternity leave rights and leaving them to face massive tax bills.

The BBC reported that Hall admitted some stars had been told they would only have a career in the BBC if they were paid through their own personal service companies. Hall stated that this was done to lower the BBC’s tax bill. This led to around 100 presenters being investigated by tax authorities.

The presenters include BBC Radio 4 Front Row host Kirsty Lang, who has previously spoken about having to work through her own cancer treatment and continued working immediately after her stepdaughter’s death because she was unable to take bereavement leave under her employment status.

Another anonymous BBC presenter told MPs that she tried to kill herself due to the stress she faced over her employment arrangement.

In November, the National Audit Office warned that 800 BBC presenters could face tax investigations over their employment contracts and potentially be asked to repay tax.

The BBC is now trying to reach a deal with HMRC to settle all the cases and Lord Hall said he had apologised to the affected presenters in person.

Hall told the committee, “I have put a huge amount of emphasis in trying to sort this with HMRC because I think that will actually allow these people to do their work. I take no joy at all from being at odds with people who are our frontline to our business and I want to repair that relationship.”

In April 2017, new rules came into effect impacting any company or business, including Personal Service Companies, that provides the services of workers into Public Sector organisations.