BBC ‘still missing opportunities’ when reporting on Scotland, MSPs say

The BBC is “still missing opportunities” when it comes to reporting on Scottish politics, a committee of MSPs has said.

Members of the Scottish Parliament’s Culture Committee said the matter had been a “long standing frustration” as they said the BBC Network news needs to “better focus on the everyday realities of devolution”.

The committee made the plea as it said consideration should be given to the BBC adopting a “more federal structure” across the UK.

Insisting that “Scotland needs a BBC that is ambitious and accountable”, the committee report said there was a need for BBC Scotland to be “more devolved in its governance” and to have “greater control of scheduling and commissioning”.

As such it said the BBC, the UK Government and the broadcasting regulator Ofcom should “consider whether the BBC should adopt a more federal structure”.

This, the MSPs said, could mean that BBC Scotland “would be a partner rather than a subsidiary” and would also have “greater fiscal and editorial control and commissioning power”.

MSPs made the plea at the same time as they said the broadcaster should also do more to ensure news coverage explains when matters are reserved to Westminster or are devolved to Holyrood, with the report – published after MSPs carried out an inquiry into Scottish broadcasting – insisting stories should make clear “which government is being talked about, which NHS the story refers to etc”.

The report also raised concerns about the BBC’s coverage of proceedings at the Scottish Parliament, saying that while network news covers Westminster committees “there appears to be little interest from BBC Scotland in covering the work of committees” at Holyrood.

In addition to this it noted there is “no regular live coverage of the Parliament’s proceedings on the BBC Scotland channel”.

The committee report made clear MSPs “believe that BBC Scotland should be more attuned to and engaged with the work of Scotland’s national democratic institution and legislature”.

It added: “The committee also recommends that the UK Government and the BBC consider how the currently limited coverage of the Scottish Parliament can be revisited and considerably improved.”

That came as the MSPs used the report to make clear their concerns about the “suggestion that the BBC Network continues to fall short in serving the interests of licence fee payers in all parts of the UK equally”.

The broadcaster, the report added, is “still missing opportunities to more consistently reflect the reality of devolution in terms of the precision, range and clarity of its reporting”.

The report comes just weeks after Scottish Culture Secretary Angus Robertson accused the BBC of “misleading” its audiences by “misreporting” news from the devolved government.

Mr Robertson went on to claim the broadcaster had a “systemic problem in its news coverage” of Scotland.

Meanwhile, the MSPs noted that 10 years ago a Holyrood committee had similarly identified “a need for the BBC to represent Scotland and the diversity of Scottish culture more effectively”.

The MSPs said: “The evidence from our inquiry suggests that it remains a valid finding.

“Witnesses told us of a London-centric problem, of Scotland being seen as a region and not a nation, of public service broadcasting not enabling different parts of the UK to understand each another.”

Committee convener Clare Adamson, said: “We support an adventurous, adaptable and accountable BBC and have made a series of recommendations directed at the Scottish Government, the UK Government, Screen Scotland, Ofcom and the BBC to ensure that Scotland and its licence fee payers are well served.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC is committed to reporting on issues that matter to all of our audience, both through our network news and current affairs teams and our output in the nations.

“More broadly, through our Across the UK strategy we have moved roles, programming and decision making across the UK’s nations and regions.

“Our response to the Government’s Green Paper sets out how, with appropriate reform of the BBC’s funding, we’re aiming to go further still, with content increasingly commissioned and produced closer to the audiences we serve.”