Meeting of the Parliament 23 February 2016
I am delighted to open this debate on the BBC charter renewal process. I thank the Parliament for the key role that it has played in the process. From the outset, the work of the Devolution (Further Powers) Committee was vital, not only in ensuring that the Scottish people are properly represented for the duration of the renewal process but in engendering a collaborative and consensual approach to what could have been a very partisan issue.
The quality of that committee’s work and the commitment to securing the very best for Scotland were reflected in the Parliament passing—without opposition—a motion to agree to the memorandum of understanding between the Scottish Government, the United Kingdom Government, the BBC and this Parliament. Likewise, the work of the Education and Culture Committee has been a perfect example of how our committee system can work across party lines to provide a depth of consideration and forensic expertise to tease out important new strands of the debate that had previously been elusive.
It is worth sharing that, in feedback from my meetings with representatives from across Scotland and beyond, I repeatedly heard that our approach in Scotland has been considered refreshing and that the debate has been of high quality and genuinely meaningful. I congratulate everyone who has been involved in the debate on that; it is a testament to the value of the participative approach that we take in Scotland, which I hope will continue. In that regard, I am happy to acknowledge all in the debate, and I am minded to accept Labour’s amendment.
A key reason why a broad consensus has been reached is that the principles of what Scotland wants from the charter renewal process are well established. They are
“To empower BBC Scotland to address the concerns of audiences and deliver better outcomes for audiences, including more representative content across all outputs ... To ensure that the governance and structure of the BBC is more responsive, and that, by reflecting the changing political structures of the UK, it is able to deliver similarly decentralised decision making”
and
“That through these structures the BBC is not only able to deliver better outcomes for audiences in Scotland but also implement commissioning and editorial practices which will support Scotland’s creative industries.”