WS relocation confirmed
The relocation of World Service to Broadcasting House has been confirmed.
At his liaison meeting with the unions on 31st October 2000, World Service Chief Executive Mark Byford spoke of his enthusiasm for the proposed move to Broadcasting House.
About fifteen years ago, the BBC had started to think about what would happen when the lease on Bush House expired in 2005. The first recommendation had been a move to a site at White City but that had been put on hold during the Charter renewal.
The possibility of the whole of News moving to Bush had also been considered but abandoned. The new property group had looked instead at options based on relationships with a preference to remain in Central London. A new building was not practical, financially or otherwise. Broadcasting House became the best option.
Andrew Taussig added that this was a "dream solution", being a purpose-built Central London location with World Service at the heart of the BBC. The biggest thing was the BBC brand and not Bush House.
Mark intended to establish staff forums and groups which would examine technology, accommodation specification and editorial matters. The design would be carried out over the next eighteen months although the move would not take place before 2005 but probably be complete by December 2006 - January 2007.
He believed the WS Newsroom would have a phased move. Relationships would be important. The English language core would be close to the language services and WS online would be close to BBC online. The FCO requirement that News and WS were kept together would "not be an issue". The clear distinction between funding would remain.
Any private sector partnership would not affect the BBC's retention of the freehold of BH. It would been seen in relation to the whole of the property portfolio.
It was not envisaged there would be any job losses but management would examine the way staff worked. Staff who supported the World Service would not remain at Bush. Mark Byford and Andrew Taussig were insistent that teams remained intact and there would be no break up. They were aware that there was a special relationship in the way that Bush House staff understood WS needs.
Management board
Mark announced that Andrew Taussig would be leaving when the post of Director, Regions closed. The regional heads would, in future, be on the management board. He praised Andrew's commitment to the ethos and success of the World Service.Programmes
The World Service was spending 89 per cent of its funding on programmes and delivery. Mark said he wanted to take that figure to 90 per cent.Three-year plan
The present focus was on how to spend the extra money. Amongst the essentials were FM in capital cities, online and achieving the balance between short wave and FM deliveries.Performance
Mark was pleased with themed programmes which had involved WS services coming together for the benefit of audiences.Diversity
Lesley Granger reported on the various diversity initiatives taking place in World Service. The Business Communications Programme was providing English language training. There had been ten participants on a ten day course in September. Funding permitting, it was hoped to run one or two more courses next year. English language training was now more group-centred. Individuals were not reluctant to approach their line managers for English language training.The World Visions Group had put forward several schemes to the management board and was hoping to gain approval for some to go ahead.
The Diversity Working Group, which included union representatives, had held its first meeting with a wide-ranging discussion. It was emphasising the importance of marketing the World Service in the rest of the BBC.
Under the "Extend" scheme, two disabled people had been employed as part of a thirteen week programme. It was a useful exercise which had allowed staff to learn what it was like to work with disabled people and that would be reflected in disability training. BBC Monitoring would be joining the group at the next meeting.
The unions had pointed out that disability awareness training should not be confined to managers. WS Training was being involved in looking what could be added to corporate training.
Investors in people
Lesley Granger said that 140 people had been interviewed at Bush and Caversham. Initial feedback suggested that the World Service was doing well in some areas but there was room for improvement in others. Mark said that proper, detailed feedback would be given to the unions.BBC Monitoring
Unions had concerns about the "neutral costing" of Monitoring's recent restructuring. More staff had been appointed ant there had been a re-grade of one senior post. Mark Byford said that overall, it would be neutral costing. He was prepared to provide the unions with fuller information.Lesley Granger added that the re-grading had not been part of the restructuring but was carried out as part of a review. It had been her view that it was not a "new" job following re-evaluation at a higher grade.