BBC Media City in Salford. Picture: Shutterstock/Nebelung
The BBC is proposing to close a unit dedicated to investigative journalism in the English regions less than four years after it was set up.
The proposal is part of new cuts to BBC Local that have put 14 jobs at risk, although several roles are also being created.
An internal email, sent to staff on Monday and seen by Press Gazette, said cost savings are needed because of “inflationary pressures along with a squeeze on our income”.
Eight roles are being considered for closure in the Central Longform Investigations Team.
The unit, managed from Salford but based across England, was established when the current affairs strand We Are England was axed in 2022 after just two series.
We Are England had replaced the long-running Inside Out , which was itself closed in 2020 with the loss of around 40 jobs.
When We Are England was scrapped, the BBC said it was committed to investigative storytelling through six new regional teams based around the country plus the Central Longform Investigations Unit.
However, Press Gazette understands there has been concern and confusion internally about the exact remit of the teams, and the lack of airtime available via traditional linear broadcast channels.
Sources within the National Union of Journalists also say colleagues have raised concerns about the way that some stories were commissioned and managed.
Without a dedicated investigations programme, stories have been shortened to fit within the 6.30pm regional news programme, with longer versions of some reports being placed exclusively on BBC iPlayer. Content has also been carried via local radio and online.
The BBC has proposed that some of the staff set to lose their jobs in the Central Longform Investigations Team will be redeployed to the regional units.
These units have typically been shared across two English regions, each with around six to eight journalists including a senior news editor.
A BBC Local spokesperson said: “Our comprehensive local news, radio and current affairs output across England will not be impacted by these proposals, which are designed to improve efficiency and value for money for audiences.”
Further savings are expected to be made with the proposed closure of six deputy managing editor roles.
These jobs were created during the 2023 BBC Local restructure which saw TV senior news editors also taking on management responsibility for local radio and online news teams.
The deputy managing editors, shared between two regions each, were responsible for supporting the senior news editors with people management, training and HR support.
The BBC said it will reopen three business partner roles to “to help us deliver and manage projects at scale across Local” rather than in individual regions.
The BBC email said it has been “working hard to reduce costs by managing our budgets closely. We are looking at where we would potentially save money on things like contracts we hold or ceasing the use of redundant bits of kit.”
It also asks staff to contribute towards further efficiencies via methods like “making sure hotel bookings are within policy, expenses are being claimed responsibly and leave is booked appropriately so we can ensure everyone gets the time off they are allocated and we can backfill properly”.
The BBC said in its annual report for 2024/25 that it has made total annual savings of £564m since 2022/23. It has a target of £700m annual recurring savings by March 2028. BBC Nations is required to save £5m as part of this.
Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said: “The NUJ is disappointed to see further proposed job losses at the BBC, which will come as a huge blow to the hardworking journalists affected. The union is supporting members during this difficult time.
“The BBC has already made significant cuts to investigative programming and local news provision over the last decade. While the broadcaster insists these proposals will not affect output, we know that previous salami slicing cuts have undermined the quality and variety of journalism on offer.
“This decision comes at a time when all eyes are on the future of the BBC with the launch of the Charter Renewal process. The BBC has cited ‘budgetary challenges’ as the reason for these cuts, which underlines once again the necessity of a sufficient and sustainable funding settlement to deliver quality public service journalism, including essential investigative reporting.
“The NUJ will continue to fight for this and other foundational changes – including governance reform, worker representation on the board and protections against political interference – that will put the BBC on secure footing for years to come.”
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