Bafta Trustees May Have Broken Charity Law by Accepting Free Guest Tickets, Council Chair Claims

Trustees of Bafta may have breached charity and company law by accepting free tickets for guests at the academy's awards ceremonies, according to the chair of its membership council.

Michael Pritchett made the claim at the organisation's annual general meeting. He said he had obtained legal advice at his own expense, and that it indicated offences could have been committed by trustees who signed off the charity's accounts. Those accounts stated that no trustees had received remuneration or benefits.

"I did not go looking for what I found," Pritchett told members. "I found it doing the job that you gave me."

He alleged that trustees had been given complimentary tickets for themselves and a guest at the film, television and games awards, possibly for as long as 20 years. According to Pritchett, the guest seats were at top tables, and a second ticket at the film awards sold for £2,000.

Bafta's governing document says trustees may not receive remuneration or other benefits from the academy. Pritchett said the 2024 and 2025 accounts stated that no trustees had been paid for their services, and that the public register likewise recorded no remuneration, payments or benefits. "Counsel advises that offences under the Charities Act and Companies Act are likely to have been committed by the trustees who approved those accounts," he said. "I really wish I didn't have to tell you this."

Pritchett, who also sits on Bafta's governance and appointments committee, raised the possibility of tax liabilities as well. He said benefits of this kind were likely to have been taxable since 2016, with national insurance potentially payable by Bafta, and that he could not establish whether the arrangements had been reported to the relevant authorities. He also criticised a senior executive's refusal to hand over records of who received complimentary tickets, even though the committee's terms of reference allow it to request any information it needs from staff. Members, he noted, paid £4.7m in fees the previous year.

Outgoing chair Sara Putt said the board decided in 2025, on the recommendation of its governance committee, to stop giving trustees a guest ticket. She said an independent review group is examining the guest ticket and accounting matters, and that members would be updated in due course. Asked about Pritchett's call for trustees to pay any taxes due, repay money owed and correct the accounts, she said: "If we were told we had to pay those taxes, we would absolutely pay those taxes."

Putt also said the legal advice obtained by Pritchett and fellow committee member Sara Curran rested on the information available to them, while Bafta's own legal counsel had a fuller picture of the charity's circumstances.

Bafta trustees are volunteers, and it is understood they are invited to ceremonies in a working capacity, hosting tables and acting as ambassadors for the academy. It is also understood that guest tickets were a longstanding custom from a time when demand for tickets was lower.

A Bafta spokesperson said trustees were invited to events in an ambassadorial role and, before 2025, could bring a "plus one". The academy discontinued that practice in 2025, the spokesperson said, and the board has since set up an independent review group to consider the historic arrangement. The review is under way.