The BBC has boasted of making ‘ vast ’ cuts to its celebrity wage bill – but still paid stars a total of nearly £188million last year . Its 14 highest-paid presenters , thought to include Graham Norton , Chris Evans and John Humphrys , took home nearly £12million between them , figures show . A further 230 were paid between £100,000 and £500,000 . The figures appear in a report commissioned by its governing body , the BBC Trust , which congratulated the corporation on the ‘ great ’ progress it has made in cutting its celebrity wage bill . Some of the BBC 's highest paid presenters , who are thought to include Graham Norton , left , and Chris Evans , right , took home nearly £12million in pay between them . The corporation has reduced the amount it spends on talent by 15 per cent over the past six financial years , and cut its spend on so-called ‘ top talent ’ – those earning £100,000 a year or more – by 29 per cent . However , it also slashed the number of presenters on screen or radio by around a third over the same period . In the report , seen by the Daily Mail , the BBC congratulated itself on the ‘ vast improvements ’ it has made since 2008 , and the ‘ cultural shift ’ the BBC has made in allowing itself to lose certain presenters to other channels . It said : ‘ There has been a considerable and important internal cultural shift towards greater ownership and scrutiny of talent costs…and a willingness to be more flexible in its approach to talent , including allowing talent to leave where appropriate. ’ John Humphrys , left , is thought to another one of the BBC 's top earners . The report also highlighted presenters who had left the BBC such as Susanna Reid , right . The report highlighted Jake Humphrey , who moved to BT Vision , and Susanna Reid , the former BBC Breakfast presenter who now co-hosts Good Morning Britain for ITV . But the scale of the salaries the BBC continues to pay out to presenters is unlikely to ease concerns that the BBC is ‘ profligate ’ with licence fee payers ’ money . Last week , the influential Culture , Media and Sport Select Committee slammed the BBC , painting a portrait of an organisation that was inept with public funds , and had blown billions on vanity projects and staff pay-offs . John Whittingdale , chairman of the committee , said last night that the salaries the BBC was awarding talent needed close scrutiny . He explained : ‘ The BBC should think long and hard before paying anybody a six-figure-plus salary . It is very hard to justify these sorts of sums . 'If the argument is that [ the presenters ] would go elsewhere - well , then perhaps the BBC should let them . New BBC Trust chairman Rona Fairhead is to make a speech in Oxford today , where she is expected to reinforce concerns that the BBC wage bill was too high . 'If somebody becomes so successful that they command a very large salary , the BBC is not there to stop them . It is there as an incubator of talent . ' The committee 's report , Future of the BBC , also called for the abolition of the BBC Trust , saying that the governing body was too close to the Corporation and needed to be replaced with a more rigorous body . A speech by Rona Fairhead , in Oxford today is likely to reinforce some of their concerns . ‘ The Trust recognises that the outstanding people on screen and on air are at the heart of the BBC , at the same time we are clear that the BBC has a responsibility to spend money wisely in its approach to talent pay , ’ she will say . Mrs Fairhead is also at the centre of another controversy about pay , after it emerged that she received more than £500,000 last year for just 50 days work in non-executive roles at the embattled bank , HSBC .
The BBC has boasted of making 'vast ' cuts to its wage bill during 2008 . But new figures show 14 presenters were paid £12million between them . These are thought to include top names Graham Norton and Chris Evans . Report also highlighted number of presenters who have left the BBC . These include Jake Humphrey and Good Morning Britain 's Susanna Reid . Comes after a government committee slammed the BBC for being 'inept ' with funds .