BBC cuts jobs / Charter renewal

I don't understand, the BBC had an IT system which did not work, they then spent 100 million, and still ended up with an IT system which did not work, am I missing something?

Are staff members not capable of driving themselves?

The big problem is that there is a difference between believing something and having cold hard facts to back up that belief.

Having an opinion doesn't make anyone thick. Presenting opinions as fact without anything substantial to back it up is.... let's say more dangerous ground.

Err - how would staff drive themselves? Have you tried parking in Oxford Circus recently? And you can't expect all of your staff, particularly those who live in London, to own cars...

The BBC is far from along in providing late night and early morning transport for staff. In many cases there aren't any other options for staff to get to and from home, particularly on sites with limited or no on-site or near-to-site parking.

If your shift ended at 0230 in Broadcasting House, and you lived 25 miles away in a home county because you couldn't afford to live closer, how would you get to and from work?

You park somewhere else and get a night bus. Lots of other people have to do it. Perhaps even use a Borris bike, or just ride a normal bike.

There are parking facilities very close to broadcasting house, perhaps the BBC could reach an agreement with the company, I know it would be very very expensive otherwise for staff.

I don't deny staff need to get home, and its very nice that cabs can be provided, but its only nice, not absolute necessary.

It should only be made available to staff who cannot drive and have no public transport route.

Or, the staff can pay for a cab themselves.

The BBC may not be the only organisation doing it, but the BBC is funded with public money.

Good luck trying to recruit professional staff with that attitude... Particularly when other broadcasters pay more and offer it.



Yes - and the BBC have arrangements for operational vehicle parking at these locations. And they are very expensive. It's £1000/3 months for a season ticket at Q-Park in Cavendish Square (or £38/day) And that only covers you for people who own a car.


It may be if you are trying to recruit and retain decent staff at below the pay levels paid by other rival employers. People often chose to work at the BBC and earn less, because the work is more interesting and better quality than at other broadcast employers. But if you change your conditions of service such that it becomes close-to-impossible to work for the BBC, you will struggle to recruit and retain people.



That's an easy thing to say, but very hard to enforce.


But so are ITV and C4 - and not optionally. I can chose not to pay a BBC Licence fee. It's very difficult to chose not to fund ITV or C4. So you can easily argue that they are funded by public money too. Are you saying ITV should stop providing their breakfast staff with early morning transport too?

Are these cabs available for any BBC staff member?

Im sure there are long lines of people wanting to work for the BBC. If the cab scheme is withdrawn, staff know where the door is. If they want to go and work for someone else, let them, replacements will be found, and in time these replacements will make a name for themselves. From what we have seen, some of the current staff have issue. Many mistakes have been made at the corporation.

I would argue ITV breakfast staff, and the BBC breakfast staff, should have a cab, so that they are not late for the start of the breakfast shows.

Let us end it here, we don't move in the same circles.

Is that last line coded jealousy?

Jealousy of what?

We don't move in the same circles, I don't understand why that could be jealousy. Am I missing something?

The BBC's incompetence has caused 1000 lives to be turned upside down, I think that is a bad thing, and that faults are still being made. Im no fan of the BBC as I have already said.

At every point my views are written off, then we must just agree that we move in different circles. It seems pointless to go on and on.

The little man is going to suffer, not the big wigs making the decisions, but that is life. I feel for them, I'm sure someone who is made redundant will air their views about the BBC, maybe the truth will come out. It just seems common sense and decency has been replaced with rad tape and enlarged egos full of self importance.

AIUI Late Night and Early Morning transport is provided for all staff and fixed-term contract employees who start before a certain time and finish after a certain time. It isn't related to the job you do or where you work in the UK - though I think there are sometimes some local variances. However I believe the rules are different if you are a freelancer or employed through a service company or a third party company working for the BBC.

If you're an executive producer who has had to stay late at work to supervise and sign off an edit, and is still in the edit at 0100, and needs to be in the next day at 1000 as normal, is it really acceptable to suggest that you get a Boris Bike home?

Just because people want to work at the BBC doesn't mean they are qualified to. There is not a limitless pool of high quality production staff. They don't grow on trees, and don't appear overnight. Believe it or not the BBC does have to consider how it retains its staff, particularly those it has invested money in training and developing...

The late night/early morning transport issue is pretty non-controversial in the industry. The bigger questions are whether non-essential cab transport should always be used. There ARE times when it is entirely justified to use a cab to get from A to B during the day time. If you are carrying secure goods, need to get between two places where it would take longer by public transport - and where you are wasting time in a studio or edit suite if you use alternative transport.

However there are also occasions when senior management think cabs are standard - and that is where things become less acceptable. I should stress that this is by no means across-the-board with snr management. You often see presenters, and snr managament on tubes, buses and BBC shuttle buses...

"1000 lives to be turned upside down"?

What does this refer to ?

I understand they are cutting 1000 jobs?

Ah - but that doesn't mean 1000 lives have been turned upside down. That's a bit tabloidy and a huge conclusion to jump to...

Yes - some people are likely to be forced to leave a job that they don't want to, but that definitely won't be the case for 1000 people. Initially the redundancies will be voluntary, with only compulsory job losses happening if they can't cover it with people choosing to leave.

Many will see it as an opportunity to retire early, go freelance or change careers with the cushion of redundancy etc. If you've been at the BBC for 30 years in a middle-ranking position, you could leave with 2 years of pay (you get a month for every year you have worked up to 24 years), and that's worth more than it seems because you don't pay tax on all of it. (Redundancy pay is now capped at £150k or 2 years pay, whichever is the smaller)

There are people in the BBC who are waiting to be offered redundancy rather than resigning...