Lack of ‘detail’ over BBC plan for the North of England, say leaders

Plans are a ‘starting point’ for North

THE BBC has been urged to provide more details about the organisation’s ‘transformation plan’ for the North of England by business and television leaders from across the region, as they warned that “the devil will be in the detail” of the new agreements.

The call comes as the broadcaster yesterday announced a new action plan which aims to move “power and decision-making” outside of London.

Under the transformation, two BBC news teams will move to Leeds, while creating 20 funded bursaries with the National Film and Television School in the city.

While there will be a tailored BBC One across Yorkshire, NorthWest and North-East England, with new marketing campaigns catering for the region, and Yorkshire voices promised in the continuity between programmes.

Screen Yorkshire, the region’s film and television agency, said that plans lack detail over exactly how the region will benefit.

Sally Joynson, the chief executive for Screen Yorkshire, told The Yorkshire Post: “These are the headlines – the devil is in the detail.

“As a general direction of travel, moving departments out of London, moving decision-making out of London and moving that to the North is very much welcomed.”

While Bill Adams, the Yorkshire and the Humber regional secretary for the TUC, said moving BBC jobs to Leeds doesn’t reverse “deep cuts” to regional BBC journalism in Yorkshire.

YORKSHIRE’S FILM and television agency said the BBC has given a “starting point” for the North after the organisation revealed plans to shift hundreds of jobs in key departments out of London and invest in local journalism and apprenticeships.

Under the proposals, entitled The BBC Across the UK plan, that the organisation’s 22,000 employers were briefed on yesterday, roles will be moved out of the capital and moved to cities including Leeds, Birmingham and Salford – which will become the main base for its digital and technology teams.

Under the move, two BBC news teams – the learning and identity team and some of the new UK insight team – will move to Leeds.

A new long-running drama series is also set to be produced in the North and broadcast across the country.

Over the next six years, the BBC said it will give “more prominence” to stories from communities across the North as part of what the organisation has described as the “biggest journalistic reshaping” of the BBC in its history.

While welcoming the initial ‘‘headlines’’, Sally Joynson, the chief executive for Screen Yorkshire, said she hoped the organisation followed through on its rhetoric. Mrs Joynson said: “There has been a long hard look at the BBC and the future of the corporation and how it needs to adapt. I think you see this coming through in this document.

“The big agenda is about opening opportunities outside of London – and this is what this speaks to and if they can actually deliver on this – then we would expect to see a very different BBC and that will be reflected both on screen and off screen.”

She added: “There is nothing I have seen about how they are actually going to do it. The general direction of travel – this looks very promising – it looks very exciting, it’s what we would expect the BBC to be doing at this stage in its life.

“The finer detail is what we need to drill down into – to actually understand exactly which opportunities it will open up for Yorkshire and the wider North.”

Meanwhile national and regional unions representing journalists have warned that moving BBC jobs to Leeds doesn’t reverse deep cuts to regional BBC journalism in Yorkshire.

According to the National Union of Journalists, the proposals will result in 600 job losses at BBC News. The BBC had previously earmarked 450 jobs to go in news as part of a cost cutting exercise across its whole organisation.

Paul Siegert, the NUJ national broadcasting organiser, said: “It’s strange that at the same time the BBC is talking about the importance of getting out of London and investing in the regions as a means of better serving the audience, it has also axed 450 posts in English regions and cut £25m from that budget.”

Bill Adams, the Yorkshire and the Humber regional secretary for the TUC, added: “Moving top BBC jobs to Leeds doesn’t reverse deep cuts to regional BBC journalism in Yorkshire.”

The big agenda is opening opportunities outside of London Sally Joynson, chief executive for Screen Yorkshire.