The broadcaster is planning to cut 450 jobs and is to axe its weekly magazine programme Inside Out, which is recorded across the UK, including at its Mount Pleasant studio.
Other changes will see one instead of two presenters fronting 6.30pm regional TV news bulletins, including BBC South East.
The BBC, which introduced a ‘simplified schedule’ on local radio during the pandemic, with single instead of double presenters and a reduction in the number of shows, will also make this change permanently.
The broadcaster said that BBC England – which currently has more than 3,000 staff – must save £25million by April 2022.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said the cuts – which will affect presenters, journalists, technical and operation staff – ‘could have a serious impact’ on the BBC’s “ability to represent all parts of the country”.
Helen Thomas, director of BBC England, said ‘difficult decisions’ had to be made on local and regional services ‘created more than 50 years ago’.
She added: “We are in the age of the Facebook community group and the WhatsApp neighbourhood chat. We must adapt to better reflect how people live their lives, how they get their news and what content they want.
“We’re going to modernise our offer to audiences in England by making digital a central part of everything we do.”
The BBC said that changes would put ‘digital storytelling at its core’ and it will commission a broader range of TV programming reflecting ‘life across England especially in the North and Midlands’.
The regional editions of Politics England on Sunday mornings will return in the autumn but undergo a ‘creative review’.
