Charter Renewal must put BBC funding on secure, long-term pathway or risks death by a thousand cuts

BBC Director General Matt Brittin has set out today more detail on the 10% job cuts across the BBC, with 550 roles announced to be cut across the BBC Content, Nations and News teams this year.

Head of Bectu Philippa Childs, responding to the BBC announcement of job cuts, said:

“These cuts, while expected, will still be devastating for the workforce and to the BBC as a whole.

“10% cuts when real terms income from the licence fee is already down £1.3bn in the last decade is significant and will affect the BBC’s ability to deliver its public service mission.

“It seems clear that cuts will have a direct impact on programming and output, and audiences will also notice the effects. Bectu is actively engaging with the BBC to mitigate the impact as much as possible, and we will support members facing redundancy as well as those who will see their workloads drastically change.

“To be embarking on this latest round of cuts at the same time as Charter renewal is far from ideal. I’m not sure how you can make informed decisions about the long-term future of the organisation when it will be in a substantially diminished place at the end of the process than the beginning.

“In an era of fake news and an industry that is becoming more concentrated in the hands of a few multinational corporations, the UK needs a confident, ambitious and sustainably-funded BBC more than ever.

“The Charter Renewal must put the BBC’s funding on a secure, long-term pathway or it risks death by a thousand cuts.”