BBC Redundancies Grow As Thompson Seeks Savings

The BBC has announced the details of the second wave of job cuts to hit the Corporation, first announced last week, with the number of redundancies rising to 2,050, representing a 13% reduction in headcount across the broadcaster’s content and output divisions.

The cuts will generate £221 million a year across the BBC’s output departments by March 2008, with total cost savings of £355 million a year across the entire company. The funds will be reinvested in the Corporation’s programming, with £45 million earmarked for News content, £14 million set aside for CBBC and £47 million intended for TV Drama.

Elsewhere, £23 million will be reallocated to factual programmes, while £52 million will be invested in the Corporation’s regional divisions. £27 million will be channeled into BBC Radio and Music, while £32 million will find its way to the Corporation’s New Media departments.

The latest cuts, approved by the BBC’s board of governors last week (see BBC Announces Second Wave Of Job Losses), follow the first round of redundancies announced two weeks ago in the BBC’s Professional Service divisions, amounting to savings of £139 million (see BBC Cuts 1,700 Jobs To Reinvest In Programmes).

In total, the Corporation now stands to lose 19% of its public service workforce, with 3,780 staff leaving its employment through redundancy, natural staff turnover and outsourcing.

Explaining the need for such drastic cutbacks, BBC director general Mark Thompson said: “This is all money we plan to spend on programmes and content, both to improve the services we deliver to audiences right now and to build strong BBC services in the future. All divisions are now finding ways of achieving these savings through genuine improvements rather than crude cuts.”

Acknowledging the dissent felt amongst broadcast trade unions, Mr Thompson said: “”We are going through the toughest period any of us can remember. It’s a difficult and painful process but necessary. We need to free up money to start investing in our digital future, to end our current Charter in December 2006 on budget and to show we are serious about providing value for money.”

However, staff could now strike over the action, with several unions preparing to ballot members on possible opposition to the cuts.

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk

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