Scottish National Party says BBC Scotland underfunded by £90m

[Analoguesat]

The Scottish National Party (SNP) claims BBC Scotland is being underfunded by £90m a year. The claim was made by the party’s leader in the Scottish Parliament, Nicola Sturgeon. She bases her claim on the fact that Scotland has 9% of UK households. On that basis, says the SNP, BBC Scotland should have received that percentage of licence fees - or £251.8m. Its actual budget is £160.4m. Last year, BBC Scotland announced it was cutting nearly 200 jobs to free up an extra £10m annually to improve services from 2008. But Sturgeon said: “Instead of cutting back staff and functions, there is a strong case for new jobs and increased investment in the BBC in Scotland.”

She added: “If Scotland had a national broadcaster in the same way as Ireland, Denmark or Norway, we would see an additional £90m in licence money available and the creation of 690 highly skilled and well-paid jobs - without any change in the current licence fee. The BBC in London is short-changing Scotland.”

However, a BBC Scotland spokesman said: “The equation does not take into account the totality of services which our audiences consume in Scotland. It’s important to factor in all of the content from the network channels on radio and television and the on-line offerings. Coverage of major sporting events, such as the World Cup and dramas such as Doctor Who and Bleak House, which are not produced in Scotland, would have to be bought in at the market price.”

(Source: Scotland on Sunday via Media Network weblog)