BBC local radio executive challenges Mark Thompson over cuts

A BBC local radio executive has challenged the corporation's director general Mark Thompson to justify why local radio services are facing wide-ranging cuts, while BBC Radio 4 remains "untouched".

Pauline Causey, the managing editor of BBC Cornwall, expressed concern that her station and others like it are bearing more of the brunt of the cuts than the main BBC Radio networks.

In an email sent to Thompson, seen by The Guardian, Causey said that her station is facing cuts of 14% to its £1.6m budget under the corporation's Delivering Quality First (DQF) initiative.

BBC services in the English regions must make cuts of £27m a year by 2016, and 56% of that will come from local radio services, which Causey feels is a disproportionate responsibility.

Causey told Thompson: "Last week you told Shelagh Fogerty [on BBC Radio 5 Live] that 'the level of challenge both in terms of cuts and efficiencies are not disproportionately high in English regions'."

"You also said we haven't ended up with local radio at the bottom of the pecking order. Can you please help me understand how this is true?"

Causey's email echoed concerns among other BBC executives that BBC Radio 4 has escaped the cuts at the expense of local radio in England, and other BBC services.

A BBC source told the newspaper that the cuts to local radio were "significant and much higher than [they] expected", potentially leading individual stations to lose around ten employees each.

Larger BBC regional radio stations could lose up to 20 people, and presenter Danny Baker has already criticised the proposed scrapping of his show on BBC London 94.9.

The source said: "The feeling is that Radio 4 has got away scot free. They said there was nothing more that could be done more efficiently at Radio 4, which is rubbish.

"It is hard to see how we are going to be able to keep the current level of quality on these reduced budgets. Something has to give."

The BBC is to cut up to 2,000 jobs and scale back various services as it seeks to make savings of £670 million by 2017. Regional television is also being hit hard, including regional current affairs show Inside Out facing budget cuts of 40%.

A BBC spokesperson said: "It is understandable that staff have strong feelings following last week's announcements, but news and radio across the UK are not immune from the need to find efficiency savings. We are seeking to achieve these savings at times which will have the lowest impact on audiences.

"The DQF proposals will protect peak-time programmes when the audience is highest and the output is the most distinctive, i.e. breakfast, mid-morning and drivetime programmes; news, weather and local information will remain specific to their stations; and stations will retain the ability to stay local when major stories break.

"There are no plans at present to stop broadcasting An Nowodhow - the Cornish news bulletin - on BBC Radio Cornwall."

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