BBC pledges women will fill half of all roles as part of new diversity targets

The broadcaster says half of its workforce and leadership of 21,000 people would be female by 2020

Currently, 48.8 per cent of BBC staff are women, and women make up 41.3 per cent of its senior management roles (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Women will fill half of the BBC's on screen, on air and leadership roles by 2020, the corporation has pledged.

The broadcaster also said half of its workforce and leadership of 21,000 people would be female by 2020 as part of its new diversity targets.

It said it will "pledge to go further than ever before on targets for the representation of women, disabled people, ethnic minorities and LGBT people on and off air".

Currently, 48.8 per cent of its staff are women, and women make up 41.3 per cent of its senior management roles.

The BBC has also pledged to ensure 15 per cent of its staff come from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds by 2020.

Disabled people will make up 8 per cent of its work force, and lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people will also comprise 8 per cent by 2020.

The targets will apply to all genres, but will not be programme specific.

A BBC spokesperson said: “We are making good progress in our work to make the BBC a truly diverse organisation, but there’s more to do and we’re always keen to improve.

"Almost half of our workforce is made up of women and the proportion of our workforce who are black, Asian and other ethnic minority is at an all-time high.

"We’ll continue doing what works but also develop new and innovative ideas to do even better, and we’ll set this out in our new diversity strategy shortly.”

Responding to the BBC's pledge, Mark Atkinson, chief executive for disability charity Scope, said: "It is very positive to see the BBC, and other broadcasters like Channel 4, reaffirming their commitment to on and off screen diversity this year.

"We work with many talented disabled actors and aspiring presenters, who are pushing hard to get a break. But it is still a huge struggle for disabled people to make it in the industry and there are too few opportunities."

He added: "Dramas like the A Word show that storylines about disability can attract big audiences.

"But disabled people should be included in a wide range of programming, as a normal part of modern Britain."

Additional reporting by Press Association