BBC set to cut 2000 jobs by 2017

6 October 2011 Last updated at 05:54 ET

The BBC’s licence fee has been frozen until April 2017

The BBC has announced that 2000 jobs will be cut by 2017, as it proposes how to make budget cuts of 20% as a result of the freeze to the licence fee.

Speaking to staff, director general Mark Thompson said that “compulsory redundancies could not be ruled out”.

The proposals are the result of a nine-month staff consultation – branded Delivering Quality First (DQF).

Launching the DQF process in January, the director general said “tough decisions” would be required.

Unions have attacked news of the job cuts. Gerry Morrissey, general secretary of the technicians’ union Bectu, said the BBC’s proposals should have been called “destroying quality first”.

“They are destroying jobs, and destroying the BBC,” he said.

Key points in Mr Thompson’s speech included:

• Radio 4’s underlying programme budget to be unaffected
• Small reduction of 3% in BBC One’s budget
• Extra investment in childrens’ channels to be protected.
• Small reduction in scope of BBC News
• 15% reduction in sport budget
• Reduction in entertainment and aquisitions
• Elimination of BBC2’s daytime budget
• Reduced spend in off-peak programming

Mr Thompson has dismissed the idea of shutting down any of the BBC’s core services.

“The danger of closing a service is face losing audiences critical to the BBC,” he said.

Mr Thompson said that about 1,000 more staff will move to Salford over the next 10 years, including relocating BBC Three by 2016.

Digital developments

In January, Thompson said the BBC faced the challenge of finding 20% savings over the four years to April 2017.

This figure incorporates the 16% drop in revenue from the licence fee, and an attempt to claw back 4% of current expenditure to re-invest in new content and digital developments.

Outlining where the 4% was to be reinvested. Mr Thompson said the proposals included “more money for drama and comedy for BBC One”.

In addition, more funding will be made available for factual programming on BBC One and BBC Four, he added on Thursday.

Speaking ahead of Mr Thompson, BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten explained how the trust will consult licence fee payers on the plans. The public will have until the end of the year to respond.

In 2010’s government spending review, the BBC licence fee was frozen at £145.50 until 2016-17.

That licence agreement brought with it new financial obligations, including the World Service, which is currently funded by the UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

This funding comes to an end in April 2014 as the BBC World Service transfers to television licence fee funding.

Mr Thompson concluded his address on Thursday warning that the BBC could not sustain a further reduction in licence fee funding, after a decade of cuts .

“I don’t think we could do this again,” he told staff.

“Another real terms cut in the licence fee would lead to a loss of services, or potentially a diminuition of quality, or both.”

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