£2bn deficit forces BBC to overhaul pensions

The corporation is proposing to close the scheme – which offers members a pension based on their average earnings during their career – to new joiners from December 1.

The BBC will keep the pension open to existing members, but said it wanted to change the terms so that salary increases used in pension calculations would be capped at one per cent a year, even if members received a higher pay rise.

The pension blow follows a recent review of the scheme that discovered the deficit had ballooned from 470m in 2008 to about 2bn.

The move to overhaul the scheme was condemned by the media and entertainment union Bectu and the National Union of Journalists.

But BBC chief finance officer Zarin Patel said the proposed changes – the most extensive in the scheme's history – were unavoidable.

She said: "These are tough decisions, and the first major reform of pensions in the public sector.

"But we believe we have no option if we are to avoid a new burden on the licence fee payer while ensuring that staff, many of whom have paid into their pensions for years, continue to receive what they are due."

She blamed the need to make changes to the scheme on a combination of a fall in the value of the scheme's assets due to the economic downturn, as well as increased life expectancy, meaning the company has to pay pensions to people for longer than expected.

There are about 23,000 members in the BBC pension schemes, of which some 17,000 are still contributing.

The BBC is also setting up a new defined contribution scheme for staff once the defined benefit one is closed to new members.