Bafta Trustees May Have Broken Charity Law Over Free Guest Tickets

Bafta trustees may have breached charity and company law by accepting free guest tickets to the organisation's awards ceremonies — a practice legal counsel believes could stretch back 20 years. Michael Pritchett, chair of Bafta's membership council, made the claim at the academy's annual general meeting, citing legal advice he obtained at his own expense.

Pritchett told members the advice suggested offences could have been committed by trustees who approved the charity's accounts, which stated that no trustees had received remuneration or benefits. Bafta's governing document prohibits trustees from receiving remuneration or other benefits from the academy.

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

What exactly are the allegations?

The core issue is a ticket. Pritchett claimed trustees received complimentary tickets for themselves and a guest at the film, television and games awards — potentially for as long as two decades. The guest tickets were top-table seats, he said. At the film awards, a second ticket sold for £2,000, which puts a rough value on the benefit each trustee's guest received per ceremony.

The problem, according to Pritchett: the charity's 2024 and 2025 accounts stated that no trustees had received remuneration for their services, and Bafta's public register said trustees received no remuneration, payments or benefits. That sits uneasily with the governing document's prohibition on trustee benefits — assuming the tickets count as benefits at all, a point Bafta's own counsel disputes on the facts available to it.

"Counsel advises that offences under the Charities Act and Companies Act are likely to have been committed by the trustees who approved those accounts," Pritchett said. "I really wish I didn't have to tell you this."

How serious is the tax question?

Pritchett, who also sits on Bafta's governance and appointments committee, raised a second issue: possible tax liabilities. He said benefits of this kind were likely to have been taxable since 2016, with national insurance potentially payable by Bafta itself. He said he could not establish whether the arrangements had ever been reported to the relevant authorities — a gap that leaves the charity's exposure unknown.

He called on trustees to pay any taxes found to be due, repay any money owed and correct the accounts. Sara Putt, Bafta's outgoing chair, responded: "If we were told we had to pay those taxes, we would absolutely pay those taxes."

What has Bafta done about it?

Putt told the meeting the board decided in 2025 to end the practice of giving trustees a guest ticket, following a recommendation from its governance committee. "The separate guest ticket and accounting matters are being examined by an independent review group," Putt said, adding that the board would update members in due course — no timeline was given.

Putt also pushed back on Pritchett's legal advice. She said the counsel he and fellow committee member Sara Curran consulted worked from the information available to them, while Bafta's own legal counsel had access to a fuller picture of the charity's circumstances. The implication is that the two sets of advice rest on different facts; neither was published.

A Bafta spokesperson said: "Trustees of Bafta are invited to attend events in a working capacity, representing the academy in an ambassadorial role, and prior to 2025 they could also bring a 'plus one' guest to accompany them. In 2025 Bafta decided to review its guest tickets arrangements and discontinued the longstanding custom and practice of trustees inviting a plus one. The board has since established an independent review group to consider the historic guest ticket arrangement – the review is under way."

Bafta stresses context: trustees are volunteers, invited in a working capacity to host tables and act as ambassadors. The guest-ticket custom reportedly dates from an era when demand for awards tickets was lower.

Why was Pritchett denied the ticket records?

Pritchett also criticised a senior Bafta executive's refusal to hand over records of who had received complimentary tickets — despite the committee's terms of reference stating it could seek any information required from academy employees.

"The records belong to the charity that you subscribe to," he told members, noting they had paid £4.7m in membership fees the previous year. For perspective, that is roughly the cost of 2,350 film-awards guest tickets at the £2,000 rate.

The independent review group now holds the question. Until it reports, the unresolved issues are the ones Pritchett flagged: whether offences were committed, whether tax is owed, and whether members will ever see the ticket records they funded.