Patten says BBC has double the bosses it needs... as even more managers are hired on £200k Top executives account for 2.5 per cent of BBC's 16,534 members of staff Lord Patten wants to reduce the figure to 1 per cent by 2015 Wants to axe further 180 jobs and tackle "labyrinthine" structure BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten last night claimed the corporation has double the number of bosses it needs BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten last night claimed the corporation has double the number of bosses it needs. At present, top executives account for 2.5 per cent of the BBC's 16,534 members of staff. Lord Patten wants to reduce the figure to 1 per cent by 2015 to tackle the "labyrinthine" management structure - axing a further 180 jobs than already earmarked. But his speech came on the day it emerged that the BBC has hired a string of executives on salaries of more than £200,000 each in the past year. Lord Patten told TV executives that when he arrived at the BBC two years ago he found an outstandingly successful broadcaster full of talented people. But he added: "I also found too many bosses who worked hard but were paid too much and presided over processes and relationships of labyrinthine and often unnecessary complexity. Licence-fee payers don't expect the BBC to pay sky-high commercial rewards to people who work for a public service. They do expect the BBC to deliver the highest quality programmes and services. It needs - and indeed it has - excellent people to do that. The challenge is to balance these demands in the right way. Lord Patten told the Prix Italia awards in Turin the BBC had cut executive pay - by half for the Director General - reformed pensions and phased out private health care. However, he said: "There are still too many senior managers, around 2.5 per cent of the workforce at the last count. I'd like to see this cut to more like 1 per cent by 2015 at the latest so as to create a smaller group of people more clearly accountable for spending the licence fee. It would be painful but it is necessary if we are to secure public confidence. He also admitted the corporation had been "too slow to embrace the need for openness and honesty." At present, top executives account for 2.5 per cent of the BBC's 16,534 members of staff Lord Patten added: "Profligacy, self-indulgence and waste are as inexcusable among public service broadcasters as anywhere else in the public sector." Arguing the case for continued public broadcasting, he said it was still a protection against the "worst excesses of those who see audiences simply as a means to make money," by making television for the "lowest common denominator." Kate Harwood, head of drama, England, earns £209,800 The BBC's latest annual report, released in June, showed that the corporation has reduced senior management by 195 since August 2009, making savings of £24.6million. It also revealed that the BBC currently employs a total workforce of 16,534, of whom 437 are senior managers. Lord Patten's desire to cut their numbers by more than 250 by 2015 is significantly higher than the 70 senior staff members suggested in the report. Over the past year, the corporation has appointed at least four managers on packages of at least £207,000, while Lord Hall, the new director general, has separately spent more than £1million a year on three appointments to the BBC board. According to BBC figures, Nick Betts, controller of business, drama, films and acquisitions, has been handed a total salary of £237,800, while Kate Harwood, head of drama, England, earns £209,800. Both recruits were promoted internally. Two executives have been recruited from outside the corporation, with Shane Allen moving from Channel 4 to the role of controller, comedy commissioning. He is now earning £207,000, while Lisa Opie, controller of business, knowledge and daytime, is being paid £207,800.Miss Opie was criticised by MPs earlier this month after it emerged that she was running her own cafe business alongside her job with the BBC. Lord Hall's three appointments to his board were Anne Bulford, managing director, finance and operations, on £395,000; James Harding, the former editor of The Times, who has become director, news and current affairs, on £340,000; and former Labour minister James Purnell, director of strategy, on £295,000. A BBC spokesman said: "Executive pay at the BBC is discounted by an average of 73 per cent compared to the commercial sector which is the relevant comparison for our appointments."