Meeting of the Parliament 23 February 2016
I think that a contribution should be made to all that, as well. By its very nature, the BBC is that type of organisation. I am saying, as I have right from the start, that I want good-quality television and radio that represents the people of Scotland to be produced. For me, how we go about delivering that is the important debate.
The problem that we have at the moment is that we have so-called lift and shift. The BBC’s spending figures in Scotland include the practice of lift and shift, which can mean that staff are sometimes brought in just to use studio space in Pacific Quay before returning to London. That does not help production in Scotland, nor does it help the dramatic arts in Scotland. In effect, some of the production companies that we are talking about are simply a brass plate on a door. We need to ensure that we get the investment and that it delivers something more positive, more constructive and more solid for companies in Scotland.
John Pentland mentioned the difference that “Dr Who” made to BBC Wales. Members know that I am a science fiction fan. One of the longest running science-fiction TV series is a BBC production that has been made in Wales since 2005. The movement of the production of “Dr Who” to Wales has made an incredible difference to television production in that country. That did not happen because the BBC had a wonderful way of commissioning drama; it happened only because the BBC decided that it wanted Russell T Davies to bring the show back, and he said that he would not do it unless the programme was produced in Wales.
My argument is that we need to move beyond the situation in which such decisions are made by individual producers. We need to get to a stage at which we have a system that allows commissioning to be based in BBC Scotland and we can get the type of productions that we want and need. That does not mean that productions will have to be wrapped in tartan; they need not be Scottish dramas. They could be in any television genre—including science fiction. We must ensure that we find a way to make that happen, and I think that the charter renewal process gives us an opportunity to do that.
Personally, I do not care which platform delivers productions—TV, radio or digital—because it is about empowering BBC Scotland. If we can find a way to do that, we can do the production companies and the people involved in the arts in Scotland a service.