BBC cash reserves hit lowest level in a decade after big single-year spend

Staff questioned how the BBC’s finances had been allowed to deteriorate so badly. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/Reuters

The BBC has spent hundreds of millions of pounds of its cash reserves in a single year, increasing concerns at the corporation over the perilous state of its finances.

Cash reserves at the BBC’s public service arm slumped by 66% in the last financial year, from £369m in 2025 to just £125m, according to analysis by the Guardian. This is the lowest figure in the last decade of accounts.