Predictable

The BBC has once again wussed out of removal of a pay supplement from The Ark - the Unpredictability Allowance, given to around 8,000 staff, most of them journalists, many of whom can tell you exactly which days they will be free to play golf in autumn this year.

This is the fifth back-track - now, apparently, instead of a gutsy collective management move to this "necessary reform", Lord Hall is waiting til the appointment of a new HR Director, to see what he or she thinks.

The unions get very het up about this one, on the principle that there must be demonstrable reward for a disrupted lifestyle. But actually, for most current employees, the solution on the table, consolidation into pensionable pay is a better financial deal - especially given the amount the BBC is lobbing into the fund over the next four years.   1700 update: A cascade of contacts point out that the current offer only consolidates UPA into non-pensionable pay.