The planned £80 million cuts to the BBC come as the corporation seeks to save £550 million a year by 2021-22. The cuts are necessary due to reductions in the licence fee, which funds the money the BBC receives for the British government.
The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is one of the biggest publicly funded broadcasters in the world, and certainly the leading one. Unlike other public sector broadcasters, the BBC not only produces news, but a range of television productions (shows like Doctor Who, for example). The BBC also has a network of international (the World Service), national (such as Radio 4), local radio stations. The BBC is established under a Royal Charter.
In order to seek reductions in expenditure, the BBC is one area of public spending being targeted by the British government. This is being eased by not increasing the licence fee (a tax levied on each household in the U.K. to fund the broadcaster) and by moving the cost of granting free licences — for those aged 75 years and older — directly from the government and to the BBC, without any increase in budget.
The planned cuts have been leaked by The Guardian. The BBC’s official position is not to give anything away. A spokesperson told The Guardian: “No decisions have been taken and no recommendations have yet been made about the future of BBC News.”
At the same time as the probable cuts, BBC Scotland is to produce three pilots for flagship ‘Scottish Six’ news program. The BBC had planned to merge its regional news services; however, it is now working on a revamped Scottish new service following pressure from the devolved government of Scotland.
