Dyke cuts bite in two months

Directors of the BBC's 17 new divisions have been given two months to come up with plans for job cuts.

Until their plans have been approved by Director General Greg Dyke there will be very few job cuts resulting from the new divisional structure which he announced on April 3rd.

Any staffing changes that occur in the two month period will either be among senior executives who don't fit into the Corporation's new structure, or will be the result of on-going efficiency savings that have been a regular occurrence at the BBC for several years.

The BBC's unions were told about the two month timetable at a meeting with management on April 13. Although managers could not predict the number of job cuts that might eventually be announced, they confirmed that there would definitely be redundancies.

However, management emphasised at the meeting that they would hope to resettle as many as possible of the staff affected - a commitment welcomed by the unions.

No firm targets for job reductions or financial savings have been givento the divisional directors, but Dyke clearly expects that money will be released from administrative and support areas, to be transferred into programme-making. BBC Resources, one of the 17 divisions, is unlikely to announce any changes until Dyke's review into its activities has been completed, probably in late May.

Management have also admitted that many departments which were set up to administer John Birt's internal market will be cut back or even closed, as Dyke's reorganisation of the BBC cuts away the red tape that producers have had to deal with over the last few years.

Unions have been promised that the redundancies caused by Dyke's shake-up will be dealt with under the normal machinery for consultation over job cuts. Unions have also been warned to expect notice of changes to expenses payments and rules on use of taxis some time in the next few weeks.

When Dyke announced his reorganisation he earmarked those two areas of expenditure for future cutbacks. Since then, management have indicated that there will probably be no change in the rules on late-night and early-morning transport, which entitle some staff to use taxis when buses and trains are not running.

In a separate savings initiative, the BBC has officially announced that it is looking for commercial partners to share the ownership and day-to-day running of its White City building, near Television Centre in West London.

Under plans for a public private partnership, the Corporation believes that its accomodation costs could be significantly reduced if the building were taken over by a new company, jointly owned by the BBC and other investors.

Staff involved in servicing and maintaining the building could well be affected by the plans, if the BBC decides that the new property company should take over these activities, on top of buying the building.

No final decision on the project is due until late May, at which point interested investors could be asked to submit tenders for the partnership, and the unions are planning to monitor closely the interests of members who may face a transfer to a new employer.