'No budget cuts' for BBC kids TV

The move by BBC Children's is due to be completed by 2011

Children's programmes will not suffer budget cuts when the BBC's children's TV operation moves to Salford, the department's controller has said.

Richard Deverell admitted he was "personally daunted by the scale of the challenge" of the move but said it would not impact on programme making.

He was responding to concerns raised at the Voice of the Listener and Viewer's children's conference in London.

The move to the north-west is due to be completed by 2011.

BBC Children's, which has an annual budget of �125m, is responsible for two digital children's channels, CBBC and CBeebies, and contributes output to BBC One and BBC Two.

Independent producer Greg Childs, who is secretary of the Save Kids' TV campaign group, raised the concerns at last week's conference.

Mr Deverell said the move to Greater Manchester represented "the best chance to reinvent ourselves for an internet age".

One challenge would be to keep talented members of staff together as well as attracting new recruits, he added.

"It's not about the buildings, it's about the people."

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