The Sunday Times faces annual budget cuts of £4m

News International is set to cut The Sunday Times‘ annual budget by 10% in a bid to reduce losses.

The changes at the Sunday paper will see its £40 million annual editorial budget reduced by £4 million, and its 400-strong editorial team cut by 20 to 30 staff, according to the MediaGuardian.  The report also suggests that “structural changes” to the product are likely.

Yesterday, a spokesperson for The Sunday Times confirmed that the title’s Scottish operation will be reduced to a handful of reporters, down from the 15 to 20 staff currently working in the Scottish office.

Around 10 roles in London are also expected to be affected by the cuts, which are due to be confirmed today.

It is understood that the paper’s executives will be keen to finalise a new strategy and budget for The Sunday Times by July, in line with its parent company News Corporation’s financial year.

The cuts come as The Sunday Times and The Times continue to make losses.  In the year to 28 June 2009, the two titles reported combined pre-tax losses of £87.7 million.  Turnover at Times Newspapers was down by 13.4% year on year to £385.5 million.

In the latest ABC release, for March 2010, The Times suffered a 16.3% year on year decline, taking its circulation down to around 503,000 copies.  The Sunday Times also saw its total dip by 10.4% year on year to 1.1 million copies.