Meeting of the Parliament 23 February 2016
No, I will not.
The charter renewal process should and must embrace our input, in the context of proportionality, identity, diversity, creativity and cultural focus, and it must be economically productive.
We must reflect on the survey that found that 74 per cent of viewers and listeners want more local and Scottish news. I am sure that it is within the professional capabilities of the Brians, the Jackies, the Glens, the Davids and so on, and their respective production teams, to deliver such an outcome within a refined overall BBC strategy for broadcast TV news and current affairs.
News is but one area. To that, we add meaningful and robust sub-strategies for production and programme commissioning, which can be applied in a decentralised, federal structure. We need a strategy that relates responsibility to the accountability for delivering those sub-strategies—and delivering them profitably. That is what we are all about—delivering the best outcome at the best cost for our customers.
That cannot be the approach for much longer in the current situation. Doing things as they are currently being done will not achieve the growth that I am sure that the corporation’s centralised and devolved elements seek. That cannot be achieved with a London-centric management, a London-centric strategy and London-centric funding. The BBC is far too important to have such an approach.
Now that we in Scotland have a formal and constructive role in the charter renewal process, let us determine a meaningful devolved role for BBC Scotland, partnering with—but not only with—producers in the independent sector, for example, to produce content that is marketable internationally and resonates with the Scottish diaspora.
Let us determine that the service licence, and the strategy, management and commissioning that result from that in a federalised Scottish operation will be buttressed by ensuring that a greater amount of the BBC licence fee that is raised in Scotland is spent in Scotland.