BBC Monitoring to cut more than 50 jobs

BBC Monitoring is proposing to cut more than 50 jobs due to an reported £6 million cut in funding over the next two years.

The media monitoring service is largely funded by a Cabinet Office grant, which the BBC today claimed is to be cut by £3 million a year over the next two years. The move follows a £1.4 million funding cut across 2010.

In response to the budget reduction, the service today proposed the closure of 72 posts, representing around 16 per cent of positions. The BBC added that 18 new posts would be created.

Announcing the cuts package to staff today, the director of BBC Monitoring, Chris Westcott said that the service and post cuts were "inevitable" given the scale of the funding cut.

"We are now beginning a period of consultation with staff on our proposals", he added.

From 2013 the cost of funding the service is to be absorbed by the BBC licence fee, as stated in the government's comprehensive spending review and outlined in the licence fee settlement.

BBC Monitoring tracks more than 3,000 radio, television, press, internet and news agency sources, selecting content and translating it into English before delivering it online to a number of bodies including media organisations and charities.

The Cabinet Office has not yet responded to a request for comment.

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