Exclusive:BBC did threaten to withdraw redundancy payments from local radio staff who spoke about cuts, union says

Cross-party MPs say it’s “clear” warnings were made as presenters were asked to reapply for their own jobs

The union representing staff at BBC local radio says its members have claimed they were threatened with losing redundancy payments if they spoke publicly about cuts to services, despite denials from the corporation this had happened.

The BBC is planning to move millions of pounds of funding away from radio and share more programmes between stations. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has told NationalWorld its members were "absolutely adamant" they were threatened, while on Wednesday (May 10), a group of cross-party MPs said it was “clear” staff had faced such warnings.

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The corporation maintains this did not happen and no threats were made. NationalWorld has also learned that the NUJ will go ahead with fresh strikes in protest at the cuts - following a meeting on Friday (May 12).

What cuts are being made?

Changes to BBC local radio were first announced in October last year. Under the plans, £19 million of funding will be moved to online and multimedia content to help modernise the corporation’s local services and deliver better value for money to licence fee payers.

Each of the BBC’s 39 local stations currently has its own shows between 6am and 7pm each weekday. Following the changes, around half of those stations will share an afternoon drivetime programme - meaning fewer presenters are required - while regional late-night shows will be replaced with one programme broadcast across England.

Existing presenters were required to reapply for their jobs in a process that was heavily criticised by staff. One BBC local radio host told NationalWorld it was highly secretive and the most stressful experience they’d had in several decades of broadcasting. Another staff member said they felt completely demoralised at the way the process was carried out, they still didn’t know if their post was secure and they didn’t feel the BBC had taken its duty of care to employees seriously enough.

Dame Diana Johnson is the Labour MP for Hull North. PIC: Tony Johnson.Dame Diana Johnson is the Labour MP for Hull North. PIC: Tony Johnson.
Dame Diana Johnson is the Labour MP for Hull North. PIC: Tony Johnson.

What have MPs said?

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Last month, the senior Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson told the House of Commons she’d heard that staff who were unsuccessful in reapplying for their jobs faced “gagging clauses and feared losing their redundancy pay” if they spoke out against the changes to BBC local radio. A day later, she said she’d received a letter from BBC management assuring her that no such clauses were in place - but invited BBC staff to contact her to establish “whether these assurances are correct”.

Then this week, Johnson - and nine other MPs representing constituencies in the Humber Estuary, including the government minister Graham Stuart - jointly wrote to the BBC Director-General Tim Davie. In their letter, they repeated the claim that threats to redundancy pay had been made, adding “although since denied by BBC management, it is clear that this has happened”.

Johnson told NationalWorld it was “really worrying” and she was more likely to take seriously the view of “someone facing potential redundancy” than BBC managers.

More broadly, the letter appealed to Davie to reverse the cuts - calling them “destructive” - and to preserve local radio programming. On Friday evening, one of the signatories - Emma Hardy - said Davie had agreed to meet the group to discuss their concerns.

Tim Davie has agreed to meet 10 cross-party MPs from the Humber to discuss cuts to BBC local radio Tim Davie has agreed to meet 10 cross-party MPs from the Humber to discuss cuts to BBC local radio
Tim Davie has agreed to meet 10 cross-party MPs from the Humber to discuss cuts to BBC local radio

What has the NUJ said?

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Paul Siegert, the NUJ’s national broadcasting organiser, told NationalWorld he’d personally heard from at least two of the union’s members who were “absolutely adamant” that they had been warned about the possible loss of redundancy pay if they spoke publicly about cuts to local radio - and they felt “quite offended that the BBC had virtually accused them of lying”. He added that the BBC had since told him that no redundancy payments were at risk, and if any individual manager had given the impression it was, “that was incorrect”.

Philip Landau, an employment lawyer at Landau Law, said it would - in any case - have been very difficult to withdraw such payments, as “it would open the BBC up to claims for unfair dismissal which could cost it more than would have been the case had the redundancy payments been made to start with”.

How has the BBC responded?

In a statement, a BBC spokesman said: “In terms of claims of what was said to staff, this is simply not true. We are supporting staff and working closely with them through this process. We are following our usual HR and recruitment policies throughout this process.”

“Our plan remains as it always has been to modernise local services across England - including more news journalists and a stronger local online service - which will see no overall reduction in staffing levels or local funding. Our goal is a local service across tv, radio and online that delivers even greater value to communities.”

What happens next?

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The NUJ’s members have already been on strike over the plans - but paused their action when the BBC made changes to the proposals, including removing the risk of redundancy from 300 journalists and new guarantees on redeploying staff who would otherwise lose their jobs.

Members rejected these changes by 56 to 44%, and a work-to-rule has resumed. The NUJ also told NationalWorld it had now agreed to new strikes - with dates due to be announced shortly.

The BBC said it was “obviously disappointed” and it would “continue to engage with the union as we have done over the last few months in an effort to minimise the impact on our staff and our audiences”.

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