STV chief executive to justify job cut proposals to MSPs
Chief executive Simon Pitts received a £187,000 payment taking on his current position in January, along with deferred shares worth £666,000 in addition to his basic salary of £400,000.
STV's chief executive will be called on by MSPs later to explain how he justifies plans to make nearly 60 workers redundant while in line for a remuneration package worth more than £1 million.
The broadcaster announced plans in May to close its loss-making STV2 channel and restructure its news operation, putting a total of 59 jobs at risk, in a bid to save £1 million a year.
Chief executive Simon Pitts received a £187,000 payment taking on his current position in January, along with deferred shares worth £666,000 - to be paid in tranches to 2021 - in addition to his basic salary of £400,000.
He is expected to face tough questions from MSPs when he appears before Holyrood's Culture Committee on Thursday.
Speaking ahead of the committee meeting, Labour's culture spokeswoman Claire Baker said: “These job losses are not only a devastating blow to those workers affected but to Scotland's entire media industry.
“For a national broadcaster to scale back its news operations in a bid to make 'savings' whilst its chief executive pockets more than £1 million is deeply concerning.
“I am keen to hear how Simon Pitts can justify a gold-plated remuneration package whilst making staff redundant under the guise of cost-cutting.
“Scotland needs a strong and independent news sector to hold both governments at Westminster and Holyrood to account.
“STV has been lauded for its local and national news and politics coverage, these redundancies seriously risk undermining that.”
Committee convener Joan McAlpine added: “The proposals recently announced by STV would mean major changes to the structure of a national broadcaster, particularly affecting how news is delivered across Scotland.
“The entire committee was concerned about what these proposals will mean in practice and we will use Thursday's evidence session to find out more about the proposed job losses as well as the sale of local TV licences.''
Staff at STV are currently balloting on taking industrial action.
STV declined to comment.