BBC told it must keep Scots fees north of Border

Industry chiefs want cash for native productions

MONEY raised from BBC licence fees north of the Border should be entirely ring-fenced for native Scottish programming within five years, a group chaired by a former BBC Scotland controller has said.

In a report on the future of the national broadcaster, experts from the Screen Sector Leadership Group (SSLG), which is comprised of industry figureheads, stressed that resources channelled into Scottish content was disproportionate to the licence fees generated from the population.

SSLG chairman John McCormick, who used to oversee the Edinburgh International Film Festival and was vice-chair of Scottish Screen, wrote: “As a new BBC Charter is introduced there are high expectations for a significant increase in the amount of licence fee collected in Scotland being invested in Scotland.

“In a devolved UK it is also time for more responsibility for commissioning programmes to rest here in Scotland, not London.”

The paper adds: “Fifty-five per cent of the licence fee revenue raised in Scotland is spent in Scotland compared with 95 per cent in Wales and 75 per cent in Northern Ireland. The industry would be transformed if this deficit, equal to some £140m, were invested in work in Scotland.”

The paper adds that the BBC should develop a five-year strategy to achieve the objective of all the licence fee revenue “raised in Scotland being spent in Scotland”.

On Thursday, a committee of MSPs will question Tony Hall, director general of the BBC, over its Scottish and the fate of plans for a potential Scottish hour-long bulletin, dubbed the “Scottish Six”.

Reports at the weekend suggested Mr Hall will reject the concept of a separate hour-long bulletin filmed and produced by BBC Scotland,

BBC Scotland staff remain in the dark over the future of the Scottish Six plans, and expect Mr Hall to announce a new project on Thursday when he sits before the committee.

SNP MSP Joan McAlpine, who convenes the Scottish Parliament’s Culture, Tourism and External Affairs Committee, has said Mr Hall is likely to face “difficult questions” if it emerges he has sunk the idea of the Scottish Six.

The programme has been extensively trialled at Pacific Quay, the BBC’s headquarters in Glasgow.

Mr Hall could, it has been rumoured, form of compromise offer by extending the length of Reporting Scotland with the bulletin switching to a 6.20pm start and lasting 40 minutes.

A second regional radio channel to accompany Radio Scotland has also been mooted.

It is thought this new station would broadcast mainly music and cultural programmes, allowing Radio Scotland to concentrate on news and speech.

BBC Scotland pilots for a Scottish Six have been trialled for months and were a key project for both the new director of BBC Scotland, Donalda MacKinnon, and its head of news, Gary Smith.

Individuals comprising the SSLG group include Alan Clements of STV, Bruce Malcolm of BBC Scotland, and Natalie Usher, head of screen at Creative Scotland, among others.

‘‘ The industry would be transformed if this deficit, equal to some £140m, were invested in work in Scotland

HE shot to fame playing Methadone Mick in the last series of Still Game.

Now Scott Reid is starring alonsgide a pet rat called Toby in the National Theatre’s awardwinning production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

He plays Christopher Boone, a 15-year old with an exceptional brain at maths, while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. His best friend is a white rat called Toby.

The show is currently on at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre until Saturday. Picture: Gordon Terris