BBC announces 1,730 job losses

The BBC has announced that 1,730 jobs are to go as part of plans to reinvest more money in programmes.

A statement issued today revealed that 980 jobs will close, some through staff turnover and others through redundancy, while a further 750 posts are planned to be outsourced. The BBC stated that this would result in a reduction of staff by 46% in the professional services department, which includes: Strategy & Distribution, Policy & Legal, Finance, Property & Business Affairs, BBC People (HR) and Marketing, Communications & Audiences.

The job losses are part of plans to release £139 million a year by 2008 in order to reinvest in programmes.

BBC Director-General Mark Thompson said that the savings were necessary in order to help the BBC develop a bold content strategy, transforming it into a state-of-the-art digital broadcaster, as well as help streamline its operations and business processes.

The BBC said that, overall, costs savings had been higher than anticipated at £355m, compared to the £320m target.

Mr Thompson told senior staff that the BBC Governors had endorsed the plans, but would give their final approval on these plans as well as additional jobs cuts from the content and output divisions as a whole at a meeting next week.

Mr Thompson said: "In December, I talked about the creative prize for the BBC and our audiences – but the cost is nothing short of transformation. We have made a strong start, showing we are serious about change and ensuring we are maximising the value of our income for audiences' benefit. We need to make the BBC a simpler, more agile operation, ready to take the creative lead in a very different, very challenging digital future."

The BBC's announcements followed last week's publication of the government's Green Paper on the BBC's Charter. Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell, described it as a "blueprint for a strong, independent BBC" and added: "The BBC, like any public institution, needs to adapt if is to serve its audiences and keep pace with change. But its values, its global reach, its standards and its editorial independence must be preserved and strengthened."

The Charter included plans to retain the license fee and replace the BBC governors with a new BBC Trust and Executive Board. The consultation carried out before the Charter was drawn up found that there was a general view that there had been a decline in the quality of the BBC's programmes, with a tendency towards 'copycat programming'.

(KMcA/SP)