BBC to cut 155 roles from news operation

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The BBC has announced plans to eliminate 155 jobs from across its news operation as part of a wider cost-cutting strategy.

The move will save £24mn from the budget, according to an internal memo sent to staff on Tuesday afternoon.

The BBC set out a £500mn annual savings and reinvestment plan in May 2022, with a further £200mn of additional cuts announced subsequently.

Across the BBC there will be a reduction of more than 500 roles, comprising 1,200 post closures and the addition of 700 new positions.

Under plans announced on Tuesday, BBC News will cut £24mn, or 4 per cent of its budget. 

As part of this, the news operation will slash 185 roles and open 55 new ones — a net reduction of 130 posts. Its media operations division is also proposing to close the equivalent of 25 posts.  

The BBC said it would do “everything we can do avoid compulsory redundancies” including through the use of the voluntary redundancy scheme. 

The cuts include closing its bespoke Asian Network News service, axing its HARDtalk interview programme and synchronising the production of news bulletins used on Radio 5 Live and Radio 2. Domestic radio stations would also take World Service news summaries overnight rather than producing their own, it added.

The proposals do not include cuts to the World Service, which is subject to a separate discussion with the UK government.

This is a developing story . . .