D&I | BBC makes director redundant in breach of own diversity rules

The BBC this week announced a series of major structural changes to the Board of its BBC News division, which included making several members of staff including Editorial Director Kamal Ahmed redundant – a move that leaves the corporation in breach of its own rules on minority ethnic representation.

The Guardian reported that the cuts, according to BBC News Director Fran Unsworth, were said to have been undertaken to streamline the Board from 11 to eight people in a move that Unsworth stated will, “deliver more value and better reflect the way BBC News will work in the future”.

However, with the loss of Ahmed, the BBC News Board currently has no BAME representation at all despite this being in breach of its own 2019 policy stating that all senior leadership groups must have at least two staff members from minority ethnic backgrounds.

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Ahmed joined the BBC in 2014 in the position of business editor, and went on to hold the role of economics editor before being promoted to a Board position, with Unsworth commenting at the time that he would “bring verve, ambition and fresh editorial insight to the role and I’m thrilled he’s joining my top team”.