Is moving shows out of London good for the licence payer?

Well it does if you consider the cost. If this is true...


...then I'd say yes, it does matter.

was the last batch of live and kicking actually made in scotland?!?

yes,

Nearly ALL of the summer bbc kids shows were done in scotland, ( form about 1999 onwards)

Think it was earlier that that. Before Scotland the Summer programmes were always from Manchester

Fully Booked was done in Scotland too - at least in it's last incarnation as FBi, but I think earlier series were too.



That's my point - so why move them from their current homes when it's only to fudge their regional quotas.

Makes quite good sense to have the religious department in Belfast too, N Ireland is the most religious part of the UK after all.

Most of those elements are standard for any relocation package by a large employer. The total is normally less than the cost of making somebody redundant, then recruiting someone else and training them.

Moving home is a costly and stressful experience. You can't expect employees to bear the costs themselves. The BBC's business case for the move to Manchester must've included all these costs and and concluded that they were affordable against the savings they will be making in other areas.

I didn't say they weren't justified, I'd say they were important to consider, rather than just saying 'the viewer won't notice'.

Talking of the Weakest Link, it seems that that programme is the biggest consumer of champagne within the BBC.

I imagine the green room following the games is awash with french grape juice.

Yep - but equally you may face :

* Disruption to your relationship because your partner's job is being relocated but yours isn't.

* Disruption to family life because your life is based in one city and you are being forced to relocate to continue doing a job that you chose to do based on it being in a place that made sense for your life.

* Ripping your kids out of schools they are settled in.

* Having to relocate elderly parents or relatives that you may be the primary carer of.

Forcing people to relocate to keep their jobs is never a particularly pleasant experience. If you are single, in your mid 20s with no dependents, and living in rented accommodation, then it is pretty easy to up sticks and relocate. If you are married with kids and elderly parents and own a property, it is a LOT more complex.

I know one particular fear of quite a few people facing the relocation to Salford is that if they relocate to the North West from London and the home counties, that if they sold London properties and purchased in the North West, they would not be able to afford to move back down at a later date (because the differential in property appreciation was quite significant). This may not be quite as important at the moment - though if the property market doesn't pick up soon it will be interesting to know how many houses the Beeb will have to purchase (or arrange the purchase of) and how the purchase price will be agreed...

None of the relocation benefits listed are at all unusual for a corporate relocation package. (If you are having to recurtain, recarpet and refurnish a standard 4 bed house - £9k isn't that excessive...)

Ha! I wish. If its anywhere its in La Robinson's dressing room.

That said, I was down there as a back up contestant for one of the shows. On the same day they did the "drag queen special" (no - that wasn't the one I was doing ) and they had a groaning table with champers and food for them - presumably to loosen them up a bit.

But when I did a "regular" primetime show there wasn't a sniff of booze to be had.

Yeah BBC Scotland was the home of Summer Saturday mornings from 1995 to 2005 (although FB was Sundays for a bit, but you get my point). As mentioned Manchester did the business from the early 80s through to 1991.