BBC privatisation talks begin

BECTU has warned the BBC that there will be stiff opposition to the sale of its technology subsidiary.

According to the BBC the sell-off, announced at the end of November, is intended to raise more than £100m in cash, and will save up to £30m in IT costs.

The union has condemned the plan for privatisation, and has demanded evidence that the prices charged by BBC Technology are out of line with the rest of the IT market.

At the first negotiating meeting on December 2 the BBC revealed that its price comparison exercise had not included all the services provided by BBC Technology, and had been confined to IT and telephony.

In addition to these areas of activity the company also provides the BBC with services ranging from broadcast engineering to specialist technical consultancy, none of which were included in the price comparison.

Even in areas where the BBC claims that Technology charges too much, the union believes that any price differential with the outside world is due to the sophisticated demands of the Corporation's programme-making activities.

More than 1,400 staff would be affected by the sale if it goes ahead, and although the BBC has said that it will protect their terms and conditions, the union fears that there could be wholesale redundancies once they are transferred to a new owner.

Negotiators have not ruled out industrial action as a means of forcing the BBC to re-think its plans.

A full report of the first meeting is available on BECTU's BBC website.