A government committee said it would call on ex-Goldman Sachs banker Richard Sharp, the newly appointed chair of the BBC, to investigate the state broadcaster's legal costs after revelations that it spent £1m on fees to fight cases brought by staff on issues of equal pay and racial discrimination.

Top broadcasters such as Sarah Montague, Samira Ahmed and Carrie Gracie are among those to have brought high-profile equal pay claims against the BBC, after it published data in 2017 on which staff earned more than £150,000 per year.