Staff at English Heritage recieved more than £1.4m of bonuses last year despite cutting one of its most iconic schemes, a Freedom of Information request reveal. 

The Mail Online report:

English Heritage was branded a ‘disgrace’ last night for paying staff more than £1.4 million in bonuses and additional payments while cutting the much-loved ‘blue plaque’ scheme to save money.

Documents obtained by this newspaper under Freedom of Information laws show that hundreds of employees at the Government’s heritage quango – including outspoken chief executive Simon Thurley – have benefited from the organisation’s ‘rewards and recognition’ scheme.

Critics say the payments are proof the organisation, which receives £100 million a year from the taxpayer, had lost sight of its priorities.

You can read the full story here. 

I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.