Closing post
Time for a recap, as we wrap up for the day.
The pace of UK interest rate cuts has been “too rapid” at a time when pay packet increases remain strong and could fuel a resurgence in inflation, according to the Bank of England’s chief economist, Huw Pill.
The chair of Thames Water has admitted he may have “misspoken” when he told a parliamentary committee that large bonuses to be paid to senior bosses out of an emergency £3bn loan were insisted upon by creditors.
Hundreds of former post office operators will be compensated by the Post Office after it accidentally leaked their names and addresses in June 2024.
Keir Starmer has heralded a “hat-trick of deals” with India, the US and the EU, telling MPs they will protect thousands of jobs and save businesses hundreds of millions of pounds.
Our other main stories:
Thank you for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow. Take care! – JK
Jobs to go at ITV amid cuts to morning shows
Jobs are to go at ITV as budgets are set to be cut at flagship morning shows including Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, Loose Women and This Morning to reinvest in programming areas including high quality dramas and sporting coverage such as the World Cup.
The biggest impact will be seen at Lorraine, which will be shortened from an hour to 30 minutes and cut back from being on-air 52 weeks to 30 weeks, and Loose Women which will stay the same length but be cut to 30 weeks.
This Morning will remain the same length and frequency, while Good Morning Britain will be extended by 30 minutes, running from 6am to 930am.
GMB, Lorraine, Loose Women and This Morning are currently produced in-house by ITV Studios.
Under the plans, which come into effect from January, production of GMB will be handled by a dedicated team at ITV News.
ITV News is produced by ITN which also holds the contracts to produce the news for Channel 4 and Channel 5.
In an email to staff, Laura Wilshaw, editor of ITV News, said that GMB would need to be produced on a “reduced overall budget”, adding that the intention is to continue to “faithfully recreate the Good Morning Britain programme viewers love as much as we can”.
More than a dozen jobs are expected to go because certain back office roles are duplicated at GMB and ITN-produced ITV News.
ITV Studios will continue to produce Lorraine, Loose Women and This Morning but is consulting on a plan to reduce the three separate teams to one.
ITV would not say how many roles are are at risk by reducing the production teams for the shows.
A spokesperson for ITV said that the move was not related to the performance of any of its shows, but about centralising its national newsgathering production in one place and investing in shows like Mr Bates vs The Post Office and events like the football World Cup.
Kevin Lygo, managing director of ITV’s media and entertainment division, said:
I recognise that our plans will have an impact on staff off screen in our Daytime production teams, and we will work with ITV Studios and ITN as they manage these changes to produce the shows differently from next year, and support them through this transition. Daytime has been a core element of ITV’s schedule for over 40 years and these changes will set ITV up to continue to bring viewers award winning news, views and discussion as we enter our eighth decade.
