BBC given Scots quota for content
The BBC has been ordered to meet a minimum quota of the amount of network productions it makes in Scotland.
New rules from regulator Ofcom will mean the corporation must ensure at least 8 per cent of its network programming hours are made in Scotland – the first time such a quota has been set. The rules come into force next year.
The BBC has been ordered to meet a minimum quota of the amount of network productions it makes in Scotland, with the corporation facing new rules compelling it to spend the same amount on programmes per head across the UK’S devolved nations.
The rules, set out by regulator Ofcom, specify that Scottish spending must account for at least 8 per cent of the corporation’s overall expenditure on network programming.
Had the benchmark been in place in 2015, when 7.7 per cent of spending took place in Scotland, the BBC would have potentially faced a sizeable fine. However, the figure rose last year to 10.3 per cent.
Under the rules, which will come into force next year, the BBC must also ensure at least 8 per cent of its network programming hours are made in Scotland – the first time such a minimum quota has been set.
Focus will fall on Ofcom’s stipulation that the BBC “will be required to spend broadly the same amount on programmes, per head, in all four of the UK’S nations”.
It is unclear how the rule will remedy existing disparities. According to BBC figures, it will raise £321.7 million from Scottish licence fee payers in 2017, yet spend only 72 per cent of it (£233m) in Scotland.
In Wales, 98 per cent of £188.5m raised is spent in Wales, while in Northern Ireland, 97 per cent of the £99.8m revenue is spent there.
Asked if the new framework would change that, a spokesman for Ofcom said: “Ofcom doesn’t have a role in relation to the proportion of the licence fee that goes to BBC Scotland.”
BBC Alba will have to devote 75 per cent of its output to original productions, up from around 27 per cent. Elsewhere, there must be at least 290 hours of news and current affairs programming on BBC One Scotland, an increase on the existing commitment of 265 hours – the corporation actually aired 361 hours of such content last year. A BBC Scotland source said: “Very little of what it has set out will deliver any kind of major spending increase in Scotland. You can raise the baselines, but if the minimum is already being met, it hardly acts as a spur for change.”
Belle Doyle, a spokeswoman for the Association of Film and Television Practitioners Scotland, said: “Ofcom have to tighten up how they work out they classify Scottish production spend. That means not having London production companies getting a commission from BBC Scotland, coming in for four weeks, and doing a bit of filming.”
BBC Scotland described the requirements as “tough and challenging,” adding: “At BBC Scotland we are in a good place to take the challenges on with a wide range of network programming from drama such as Shetland, to daytime, entertainment and factual programming. Network TV spend in Scotland in 2016 was 10.3 per cent, well beyond our 8.6 per cent target.
“This equated to over £84m spent on network TV content made in Scotland.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: “We see the quotas set by Ofcom as a minimum and expect the BBC to go further, we expect Ofcom to ensure the BBC respects the spirit of this by commissioning programming that is genuinely from Scotland.”