BBC defends free cookery lessons for boss, served up by TV chef Blanc

THE BBC's director-general has been given a gift of free cooking lessons from top chef Raymond Blanc at his country hotel and restaurant.

Mark Thompson is to spend a day with the French gastronomic genius at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, which has two Michelin stars.

The corporation's hospitality register shows the £495 course – which Mr Thompson has yet to take up – was gifted last September, only days after a new programme, The Restaurant, which is fronted by Blanc, was launched on BBC Two.

The director-general's office checked with the BBC's chief lawyer before accepting the gift to ensure he would not break the corporation's guidelines.

The Scotsman understands the lessons were a birthday gift from Blanc to Mr Thompson. The two men are friends and Mr Thompson, who earned £788,000 in 2006-7, is a cooking enthusiast.

In The Restaurant, Blanc oversees couples with no catering experience opening their own restaurants – and he closes down those not up to scratch. A second series is due later this year.

Mr Thompson was also at Le Manoir, in Oxfordshire, with his wife, Jane, for a £170-a-head Christmas carols concert in December, but they did not pay as they were guests.

The entries are among 90 made by the ten members of the BBC's executive board for 2007. The list is published today by the House of Commons public accounts committee as part of an investigation into the corporation's £500 million annual bill for goods and services, ranging from props and costumes to agency staff.

The BBC said: "Mark was offered and accepted a one-day cooking lesson at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons by Raymond Blanc. Prior to acceptance, the head of the director-general's office discussed acceptance of the gift with the general counsel.

"The general counsel agreed that there did not seem to be a problem with accepting. The issue of whether Mark had been involved in commissioning The Restaurant was discussed and it was pointed out that Mark had not had any involvement in this."

The MPs' report finds the BBC is on target to realise £75 million of savings but says it could do more to save money.

It reveals spending on "people and resources" has doubled to £53 million, largely due to preparatory work on the BBC iPlayer, which allows programmes to be viewed retrospectively for a week over the internet. The report also shows only £20.8 million of the £500 million procurement budget was spent with suppliers based in Scotland.