BBC Confirms More Than 1,000 Job Losses

The BBC has confirmed it is to cut more than 1,000 jobs.

The announcement is part of a £150m budget gap in its licence fee income. It has been reported that an unprecedented increase in the number of households saying they do not watch live television, therefore they don't pay for a licence, is to blame. Instead, more people are now using iPlayer, mobiles and online catch-up.

It is thought the cuts will affect both professional and support areas, with management structures also being streamlined. Tony Hall, BBC Director General, said the move would save around £50m, with further cuts to be expected.

The proposed steps that will be taken include:

• Reducing the number of divisions, by joining up technology teams across Digital, Engineering and Worldwide. Further changes are also possible.

• Reducing the number of layers of the organisation. In some places there are currently 10 layers of people and management; this will be cut to a maximum of seven.

• Reducing management roles in all areas of the BBC.

• Simplifying and standardising procedures across the BBC, particularly looking at how professional and support areas such as marketing and communications, finance, HR, IT support and legal are structured and can be simplified.

Work to identify where the specific savings opportunities are will be made throughout the summer, with decisions expected to be finalised in early autumn.

Tony Hall said: "A simpler, leaner, BBC is the right thing to do and it can also help us meet the financial challenges we face. We've already significantly cut the costs of running the BBC, but in times of very tough choices we need to focus on what really matters – delivering outstanding programmes and content for all our audiences."

(JP)