BBC Scotland confirms job losses

Staff were told last week that 99 jobs would be axed from BBC Scotland, in the first year of the 'Creating Futures' cuts.

The cuts are to start in April 2008 but 26 new posts will be created.

The three main areas to be affected most are in Talent, News and Radio.

Although the meeting between BECTU's negotiating committee and management delivered the bad news staff had been bracing themselves for, Scottish Organiser Paul McManus said it was as positive a meeting as it could be in the circumstances.

"BBC Scotland management committed to manage this situation with sensitivity and as little pain as possible," he said. "We believe that they are committed to redeploying and retraining staff where possible and they have already provided us with their change stress risk assessments."

The BBC also agreed to the joint union proposal for three-monthly divisional level meetings to monitor and address health, safety and stress through the ongoing process as well as agreeing to the union proposal to extend the trawl for volunteers to 11 January.