BBC England axes 450 jobs in cost-cutting drive

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 26d

The BBC confirms that 450 jobs will go around the regions of England in an effort to save £25 million.

The BBC has confirmed that 450 jobs are to be axed in England in a bid to make £25 million of savings in the next two years.

The news means that staffing in the regions will be reduced by around 15%, with around 30 jobs going due to the axe of the Inside Out format.

Local bulletins have been fronted by just one presenter during the coronavirus crisis but this will now become the new standard, while the reduction in the total number of presenters on local radio shows will also be maintained beyond COVID-19.

Helen Thomas, director of BBC England, said: "I'm proud people have turned to us for trusted news and information in huge numbers during COVID-19, proving the importance of our local and regional services. But those services were created more than 50 years ago, have changed very little and need significant reinvention. That has meant taking some difficult decisions.

"We are in the age of the Facebook community group and the WhatsApp neighbourhood chat. We must adapt to better reflect how people live their lives, how they get their news and what content they want.

"We're going to modernise our offer to audiences in England by making digital a central part of everything we do. We'll take forward lessons from COVID-19 that will make us more agile and more in touch with communities, while also ensuring we're as efficient as we can be. I'm confident we can evolve our local and regional services while improving our impact and better serving our audiences."

The corporation had already been required to make £800 million of cost savings across the whole of the current charter period but a dip in revenue due to coronavirus has resulted in another £125 million of necessary cuts.