BBC announces £160m in savings and 550 job closures

The BBC has today confirmed the first phase of its proposals to make £500m of savings over the next three years.

Staff were informed today that 550 roles would be closed across the News, Nations and Content divisions by the start of 2027/28. These divisions would also be making a reduction in commissioning spend of around £80m by the end of 2027/28.

The savings announced today will deliver around £160m of the £500m target, which will see an overall reduction to headcount of around 1,800 to 2000 and a cost reduction of 10%, over the next three years.

Further savings across all divisions will be set out in the coming months. This includes corporate divisions, where around 700 roles are expected to close.

Proposals announced today:

BBC Content

• A target to deliver a minimum of £100m of recurring annual savings by the end of 2027/28
• A reduction of around 100 roles by the end of this financial year
• A review of broadcast TV channels and radio network portfolio as audiences move online
• A reduction of 100-150 hours of originated programmes across all commissioning genres by the end of 2027/28
• In audio, by the end of 2027/28 we expect a reduction of around 350-400 hours across stations and genres, while protecting many of our prime daily programmes

Nations

A total of £33m of savings by the end of 27/28, with the expected closure of around 250 posts in this first phase expected to be broken down as follows:

• Savings of £9m in Wales and a reduction in headcount of around 50 roles
• In Northern Ireland, £4m of savings and up to 50 roles
• In Scotland, over £10m of savings and up to 60 roles
• In BBC Local, £9m savings and around 90 roles

News

• Proposals outlined today will save around £25m, with a net reduction of around 200 roles for this first phase. You can read more information on those changes here.
• BBC News will be reducing costs by at least £51m by next April with further announcements expected over the next few months detailing further post closures amounting to a level similar to that announced today.

Staff have been told voluntary redundancy will be available, but compulsory redundancies are also possible.

Programme closures will be guided by three main principles:

• To sustain output with the highest audience value and impact
• Meet audiences where they are, reducing spend elsewhere
• Make the BBC simpler and faster – reduce duplication, clarify accountability, and increase the speed of decision making. This includes reducing senior leaders by at least 10%

Further announcements will be made in due course.

BBC Press Office

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