BBC bosses ‘disappointed’ as staff turn to industrial action amid £500m cost cuts and job losses

It follows last week’s announcement that BBC News would axe more than 100 roles in the coming months, delivering £5.5 million in savings.

The division still needs to identify at least a further £20 million to reach its minimum target of £51 million.

The cuts form part of the BBC’s wider £500 million savings strategy, which the corporation says it must deliver over the next three years.

Rhodri Talfan Davies, the BBC’s deputy director-general, addressed staff about the ballot in an email on Wednesday.

His email to staff, seen by GB News, read: “Dear all, I wanted to write to let you know that we have received formal notification from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) that they intend to ballot their members for potential industrial action at the BBC in relation to concerns over compulsory redundancies.

“This is clearly a disappointing development, though we obviously respect the right of all Trade Union members to participate in a ballot.

“Over recent months, we have had extensive and constructive discussions with the NUJ and have been clear that we will do everything possible to minimise compulsory redundancies. We’ve backed that up with action too – a large majority of the redundancies agreed to date have been achieved on a voluntary basis.

“But faced with a £500 million financial savings challenge and significant operational pressures, we cannot offer a guarantee that there will be no compulsory redundancies.

“Whilst we will continue to do everything possible to minimise this, the reality is that no organisation of our scale and complexity could offer such an undertaking and it would inevitably compromise our service to audiences if we did.”

Mr Davies added that bosses remained “committed to positive and constructive dialogue with NUJ representatives” with plans to meet with them this week.

The £500 million savings target amounts to roughly 10 percent of the BBC’s annual costs. Beyond the newsroom cuts, the corporation has announced it must reduce its Nations division by approximately 250 full-time positions, saving £33 million.

Of that figure, £9.1 million will come from BBC Local, with around 90 roles affected across local radio and regional television news.

Earlier this month, the corporation announced the closures of BBC Scotland, BBC Three and BBC Radio 4 Extra’s linear broadcasts.

There has also been a cull of some of the BBC’s best-known shows. Nick Knowles shared his “disappointment” following the axe of DIY SOS in a statement earlier this week.

Live at the Apollo, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Blankety Blank, I Kissed A Boy, and several other shows will also not be returning.

Should NUJ members vote in favour of industrial action, any walkouts would not take place until December at the earliest. A separate ballot on pay is currently open and closes on November 5.

The most recent strike by BBC journalists occurred in May, when staff from the World Service programme Newshour and Radio 4’s The World Tonight walked out in protest at plans to impose shorter but more frequent shifts.

Responding to the latest round of cuts last week, the NUJ said, according to Press Gazette: “Ultimately, the situation the BBC faces is the result of decades of chronic underfunding with sustained real terms cuts to the licence fee.”