Newcastle North MP, Catherine McKinnell, has written to the BBC Director General, Mark Thompson, today to challenge him on the level of cuts being proposed to local and regional broadcasting services, under the ‘Delivering Quality First’ initiative.
BBC local radio services in the North East are facing staffing cuts of around 20%, whilst the regional television current affairs programme, Inside Out, faces a 40% cut – potentially resulting in one programme being produced for a ‘super-region’ incorporating the North East and Cumbria, the North West and Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
Catherine said:
“I know that many of my constituents highly value the local and regional services provided by the BBC. More than one third of BBC Radio Newcastle’s listeners are aged over 65, and I am therefore particularly concerned about the disproportionate impact that these cuts will have on older residents.
“The BBC also believes that audiences will tolerate current affairs programming produced for so-called ‘super-regions’, but has published no evidence to back up this claim.
“We all want to see value for money from the licence fee, and 2 million listeners to local radio across the country have no other contact with the BBC. Many BBC Local Radio stations – including BBC Newcastle – are in more direct contact with licence fee payers than any of the national radio stations which appear to have been protected.
“I find the scale of the cuts being proposed particularly difficult to accept in light of the levels of remuneration still being received by many senior BBC staff. Indeed, a recent Freedom of Information request revealed that almost 350 employees are being paid more than £100,000 a year.
“I want to know what real efforts Mark Thompson has made to bear down on senior pay levels before proposing to make cuts to services that North East licence fee payers value and trust.”
Catherine McKinnell MP has sent the following letter to BBC Director General, Mark Thompson, today:
Mr Mark Thompson
Director General, BBC
Television Centre
Wood Lane
London W12 7RJ
Dear Mr Thompson,
Thank you for your letters of 24th October and 19th April about proposed cuts to BBC local and regional television and radio broadcasting as part of the ‘Delivering Quality First’ initiative.
Whilst I fully acknowledge the challenging licence fee settlement agreed for the BBC, I remain very concerned that the DQF proposals simply do not adequately recognise the importance and value placed on local and regional broadcasting by my constituents – and indeed by people across the North East.
I also find the scale of the cuts being proposed to these services difficult to accept in light of the levels of remuneration still being received by many senior BBC staff. Indeed, I understand that a recent Freedom of Information request has revealed that almost 350 BBC staff are paid more than £100,000 per year – with those at the very top receiving several multiples of this amount. Although many of these members of staff may no longer be officially designated as ‘senior management’, they are clearly still in receipt of very significant salaries at the same time that highly valued BBC services are being put at risk.
I would therefore be grateful if you could clarify what assessment has been made of the savings that could be made at the BBC by pinning back senior salaries in line with the rest of the public sector, and indeed that received by the Prime Minister – and thereby potentially significantly reducing the need to cut local and regional services.
A further concern is that the median BBC wage, of £30,000, is artificially high because many of the lower paid jobs carried out at, and on behalf of, the BBC (e.g. cleaning, canteen staff) have been outsourced and are therefore not included within the median wage calculation. This then distorts the picture when calculating any potential ‘cap’ on senior pay using the pay multiple system. I would be grateful if you clarify whether this understanding of the situation is correct.
I look forward to hearing your response to these concerns, and would strongly urge you again to re-think your proposals to cut local and regional broadcasting services.
Yours sincerely
Catherine McKinnell MP