BBC Bristol staff will stage a 24-hour walkout tomorrow (Wednesday, March 15) over proposed cuts to its local radio services and job losses. The plans, unveiled by BBC bosses last year, will see the service scrap dedicated region-specific programming across all 39 English local radio stations after 2.00 pm on weekdays and at weekends, replacing them with broader shared and even national content.
It's believed that nearly 50 jobs will be lost in the controversial overhaul of programming across England. The cuts to funding for local radio production come as the cooperation plans instead to invest further in online local news.
Under the plans, local programming will be restricted to weekdays between 6.00 am and 2.00 pm, with the BBC producing 18 afternoon programmes across England shared among its 39 stations. Ten local programmes will be shared between 6.00 pm and 10.00 pm on weekdays, all day on Saturday and on Sunday mornings, serving areas broadly mirroring existing local TV areas.
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According to the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), the changes mean that staff have had to re-apply for their roles in a diminished job pool. The NUJ says that in Bristol, longstanding BBC West presenters, including Steve Yabsley, Claire Cavanagh and Ali Vowles, are competing with colleagues from other stations across the South-West.
The NUJ reports that while presenting interviews have taken place, as they go into Wednesday's walkout, staff are still in the dark about who has a job to return to in the long term. The strike will see members of the NUJ Bristol Branch picket Broadcasting House on Whiteladies Road in Bristol from 10.45am, with their colleagues at BBC West, which covers Points West and BBC Bristol, beginning a 24-hour walkout at 11am.
Strike action was called after 83 per cent of NUJ members voted in favour of a walkout. In the ballot, in which 69 per cent took part, the majority of members declared that they had no confidence in BBC bosses' plans.
James Garrett, chair of the Bristol branch of the NUJ, said, "As it is, of the £159 paid by licence fee-payers each year, just £7.60 is spent on local radio. Yet it still manages to do magnificent work.
"NUJ members are sad and angry, so soon after having their efforts praised by their bosses for providing a lifeline to isolated people and communities during the Covid crisis, that they have to compete with their colleagues for the handful of jobs which would remain."
He added: "We have no issue with the BBC's plans to increase digital content, but this should not be done at the expense of output that connects diverse communities across England."
The NUJ has urged the region's MPs to support Early Day Motion No 920 in Parliament. This calls on BBC managers "to meaningfully engage over the plans and ensure that local radio services are protected."
In December, the corporation’s director of nations, Rhodri Talfan Davies, was grilled about the cuts by MPs on the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee and accused by Conservative MP Simon Jupp of “ripping the heart out” of local radio, while chairman Julian Knight blasted the “unprecedented cuts to BBC local radio”.
But the BBC chief said: "I don't accept that premise.
"I think we are keeping 39 local stations across England. We are keeping local bases of at least 25 staff in each of our local bases. We are strengthening the size of our local news teams, we are investing in investigative journalism across 22 of our local bases.
"This is fundamentally not about a reduction in services. It is about making sure our portfolio of local services that we deliver across radio, television and online keep pace with the way audiences are changing."
He insisted that without changes, the BBC would be “managing decline” and claimed: “This isn’t about a cuts strategy; this is about rebalancing.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “We are disappointed at the outcome of the ballot. Our local plans are about delivering an even better service to communities across England, reflecting how audiences use the BBC, strengthening our online provision and increasing the impact of our journalism.
"We have consulted extensively with the NUJ over recent months and adapted our plans in response to feedback. We have assured teams working across our 39 BBC Local bases that we will maintain overall investment and staffing levels in local services and we’ll work hard to minimise the risk of compulsory redundancies.”
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