BBC eyes compulsory redundancies in cost-cutting drive

LONDON: The BBC will axe some programming and may impose compulsory redundancies to deliver hundreds of millions of pounds of previously announced savings, its new director-general Matt Brittin told staff Wednesday.

The former Google executive, who took the helm at the British Broadcasting Corporation a month ago, said the scale of the planned savings “requires tough choices, careful work and won’t all be ready at once”.

The broadcaster revealed earlier this year it planned to save £500 million from its roughly £5 billion annual budget over the next three years by cutting up to 2,000 jobs, in its biggest round of redundancies since 2011.

It comes amid severe cost pressures after income from a licence fee used to fund the corporation in large part fell by around a quarter in real terms since 2017.

The broadcaster – which claims 94% of UK adults use its services monthly – has also been plagued by a series of controversies and scandals in recent years that have rocked public confidence in it.

In his internal memo to staff, Brittin said all divisions within the BBC’s sprawling operations “will be making significant savings”.

He noted its news, nations and content units would axe around 550 roles to deliver £160 million of savings by the end of this financial year.

Around 700 roles will go in corporate divisions, with senior leadership roles reduced by at least 10%, he added.

“Reductions of this scale inevitably mean some compulsory redundancies, though we will work hard to avoid this wherever we can,” Brittin said, noting a growing number of voluntary redundancy windows were opening.

“We will also have to close some programmes,” he added, saying “output with the highest audience value and impact” would be prioritised as the BBC strives to be “simpler and faster”.

Laura Davison, National Union of Journalists (NUJ) general secretary, urged it to change course, calling the planned cuts “devastating”.

“This is not the time for the BBC to retreat from its public service commitments and its core mission to inform, educate, and entertain,” she said.