BBC axes 100 more jobs to save 5m pounds

Another 100 administrative jobs are to be lost at the BBC as part of the managerial revolution introduced by John Birt, the Director-General.

The redundancies, disclosed yesterday, result from a reorganisation of the capital projects department, which designs and installs studios and other broadcasting facilities.

Three areas, covering news, television and radio, have been merged into a single project- management services department. The annual saving is estimated at pounds 5m. Last July the BBC said that it had shed 4,600 jobs since 1989, and there have been more departures since. The aim is to save pounds 175m in the next three years.

A BBC spokesman emphasised yesterday that the 100 people losing their jobs this time were senior managers, many of whom took part in planning the merger. He said they had all been consulted and agreed it was the best way to proceed.

The announcement was made on the day that David Dimbleby, the new presenter of BBC 1's Question Time, publicly criticised Mr Birt's heavy- handed methods of sacking people.

BBC officials took the criticism in good part and there is no question of Mr Dimbleby's contract being cancelled. His appointment to Question Time is seen as a victory for the old guard. He has never subscribed to Mr Birt's authoritarian views on news reporting.