Acas to mediate in BBC pensions dispute

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) will try to break the deadlock between the BBC and the unions over the ongoing pensions scheme dispute.

Talks between the National Union Of Journalists and the corporation will continue next week, with mediation service Acas coming in to help bridge the divide.

The NUJ called off a planned 48-hour strike last week in order to hold further talks with the BBC to clarify certain key elements of the pensions scheme offer.

Four other unions representing BBC staff, including Bectu and Unite, have accepted the BBC's revised proposal, but the NUJ describes it as "pensions robbery".

In an internal email, the BBC said that talks intended to "resolve the final points of clarification" over the pension changes were advancing well, with "agreement and understanding" on almost all of the points.

The message, sent by BBC People director Lucy Adams, confirmed that Acas has been brought in to help find common ground in the final areas of dispute.

Adams said: "We have met regularly with the joint unions over the last two weeks and we are pleased that we have reached agreement and understanding with them on almost all the points on which they had asked for clarity.

"We are continuing to talk and have agreed with the joint unions to use the support of the Acas to help resolve the final point of clarification.

"We have confirmed with the joint unions that we will be using Acas services to find a form of words to help clarify a specific issue and we are not going to be re-opening negotiations on any of our final proposals."