An Oxfordshire MP said the BBC should 'reconsider' merging BBC South services with Southampton's programming and said it reflects a budgeting issue at the BBC. 

Conservative MP for Witney and West Oxfordshire Robert Courts condemned a cut to BBC South Oxford Bulletin's, but said the government was right to freeze the TV licence fee.

In an email to staff, BBC Nations director Rhodri Talfan Davies had said the decision was made “against the backdrop of a licence fee settlement that is frozen over the next two years”.

READ MORE: BBC South Today's Oxford Bulletin to be AXED in planned cuts to regional news

The TV license fee was frozen until 2024 by the government, in the wake of the cost of living crisis.

Mr Courts said: "Local news services are important to local communities and my view is that they should be prioritised by the BBC. Sadly the BBC leadership has taken a different view and, while the BBC is operationally independent, I join with those asking them to reconsider.

"It is right that the Government took the decision to freeze the licence fee to help households with the cost of living during this difficult time."

The politician noted that the BBC will still receive £23 billion over the settlement period, which he described as 'more than enough'.

He said: "It is for the BBC to manage its budget responsibly and, rather than looking for yet more money from hard-working licence fee payers, I would ask them to re-evaluate the corporation's priorities.

"Can a public service broadcaster reasonably justify paying salaries of over £1 million a year to the likes of Gary Lineker while failing to maintain an Oxfordshire bulletin?"

READ MORE: Oxford MP slams Oxford news cuts as 'callous war on the BBC'

Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and Abingdon Layla Moran commented that the cuts were part of a ''callous war on the BBC" by the government. 

She said: "Our local news service has played an incredibly important and dedicated role during the coronavirus pandemic, and I am saddened to see it is now facing withdrawal."

A BBC spokesperson said: “We’re proud of our Oxford service, which has served viewers well and produced some great journalism.

"We need to make tough choices as we change our services in line with audience needs. The Oxford service is one of our lowest performing programme and viewers already get news broadcast from Southampton at other times of the day.

"We’ll maintain a presence in Oxford.”

READ MORE: BBC announces major changes with CBBC to be axed and 1,000 jobs at risk

The Oxford programme employs 18 staff and is broadcast on weekdays at 18:30 from its Summertown studios.

CBBC and BBC Four are among services facing the axe from the national broadcaster as part of plans to become ‘digital first’.

Read more from this author

This story was written by Shosha Adie. 

She joined the team in 2022 as a digital reporter.   

To get in touch with her email: Shosha.Adie@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter: @ShoshaAdie

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