Commenting on the announcement of significant cuts across the BBC, entertainment and performing arts trade union Equity says they are “devastating for the creative industries”.
The union goes on to question whether the public service broadcaster will be able to fulfil its Charter requirements in the face of such deep programme, commissioning and staffing cuts.
Cathy Sweet, Equity’s head of TV and film, said:
These are devastating cuts that will be felt across the creative industries and risk BBC audiences and our nation being poorer, with the BBC unable to live up to its aim to inform, educate and entertain.
The planned 2,000 jobs cuts, alongside programme closures and cutting £80m from commissioning, will hit the organisation hard and have a significant impact on its output and people.
It is difficult to see how the BBC can fulfil its Charter requirements under such circumstances – especially its purpose: ‘To reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions’.
People across the UK should see their lives, interests and concerns reflected in the BBC’s content – including in dramas and scripted content – and they should also share equitably in the employment opportunities generated. Equity has called for this in our response to the BBC’s Charter Renewal consultation.
The BBC is a cornerstone of the UK’s creative sector, serving as a training ground, a pipeline for young talent, an investor in local economies, and so much more. Far from facing cuts, it should be revitalised as the foundational civic institution that it is.
The new BBC director general, following a somewhat questionable search, is former Google high-up Matt Brittin. He announced the cuts in an all-staff email on 17 June. In it, he wrote that:
the scale of savings requires tough choices.
And he said:
all divisions will be making significant savings.
He reported that current cost-saving measures will deliver £160m of savings by the end of the financial year, but that more savings are needed. He told BBC staff to expect 1,800-2,000 job cuts over the next three years, including compulsory redundancies, with a 550 net reduction in News, Nations and Content. Brittin went on to say:
We will have to close some programmes [and will] review our broadcast TV channels and radio network portfolio as audiences move online.
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