Fair play promise over BBC job cuts

Greg Dyke, BBC Director-General, has pledged to honour union agreements as his shake-up causes redundancies.

The promise was made in Dyke's announcement of a new structure for the BBC which reverses many of the changes made by his predecessor John Birt.

Many central departments are scrapped or streamlined, and 17 new divisions are created, leaning heavily towards programme-making. The monolithic Broadcast and Production Directorates are to be broken up, and Birt's much ridiculed "Performance Review" process will be dramatically simplified.

See chart of new structure

However, the internal market, dubbed "Producer Choice" in Birt's era, will remain, but with around 50 business units instead of the current 190. Dyke accepted that the system was imperfect, and pledged to "get rid of the dafter bits" of the internal market.

Dyke refused to speculate on the number of redundancies which will result from the reorganisation, but warned that the changes "could hurt". Over the next few months directors of the new divisions are expected to identify the cuts needed in their areas to reduce duplication and bureaucracy.

Overall, the cuts are expected to release £200m per year, all of which will be spent on programmes and new services. In a welcome move, Dyke said that in addition to extra finance, programme departments will also be given guarantees on the minimum level of commissions they can expect. The BBC's overhead bill is planned to fall from 24% of its income to 15%.

Staff threatened by redundancy would be treated fairly said Dyke, and the BBC would stick to all union agreements concerning job cuts. BECTU believes that this will guarantee redundancy payments, notice periods, and rights of threatened staff to be considered for resettlement.

Initial job cuts will fall predominantly among middle managers and staff in the corporate centre, however as the new directors re-shape their divisions, staff further down the chain could be threatened.

Three areas of the BBC are not directly affected by the reorganisation - World Service, Worldwide, and Resources. Dyke confirmed that a separate review of Resources was due to begin by the end of the week.

Cost saving initiatives prompted by the reorganisation could, though, affect staff across the Corporation. These include a review of expenses, and new rules on use of taxis and minicabs, which Dyke predicted would not be popular. Savings will also be found on technology costs, especially IT.

Managers throughout the BBC were exhorted by Dyke to "listen to their staff" and acknowledge that change is a two-way process. He also condemned much of the BBC's accommodation as unacceptable, and promised to improve the Corporation's buildings "at no extra cost" - a strong hint that some kind of property deal with a commercial partner could be on the cards.

Senior union officials were briefed on the reorganisation after the announcement, and a full meeting between management and unions has been fixed for April 13.

BECTU's initial reaction to the reorganisation was to welcome the emphasis on programme-making, and to approve the reduction in BBC bureaucracy. However, many staff face job cuts, including those at more junior levels than the middle managers who are immediately affected, and the union has pledged to fight for all threatened staff to be given opportunities of resettlement.

The union is also warning that there could be more cuts to come, depending on the outcome of Dyke's review of BBC Resources.