THE Scottish Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry into the creative industries in Scotland, to start work on a roadmap for its future.

As well as considering the contribution the sector makes to the country, members will also examine the devolution of broadcasting to Scotland.

SNP MP Pete Wishart, who chairs the Scottish Affairs Committee, told The National: “There will be an invitation to BBC Scotland to come and give evidence to the committee.

“With the BBC being such an engine of the creative industries, we’re very keen to have a look at the operation of the BBC in Scotland and how that fits in with the rest of the sector.”

He said the committee would look at the contribution the creative industries in Scotland made to employment and the economy, and consider how UK policy — in areas such as tax reliefs and intellectual property rights — affected the sector.

“The creative industries in Scotland have a proud history, and are also extremely important to the Scottish and UK economies in the present day, employing tens of thousands of people and contributing billions of pounds to the economy,” said Wishart.

“The Scottish Government has designated the creative industries as one of the key growth sectors in Scotland, but there is also a need to consider the UK-wide context.

“We want to examine how the policies of the UK Government affect these industries and how they could better support the creative industries in Scotland.”

He added: “We’re looking at the whole creative architecture across Scotland seeing what fits where. Several of the creative industries are reserved responsibilities and quite a lot are devolved — but what we’re keen to investigate and examine is how they all works together.”

Members will also look at how effectively the UK, Scottish and local governments work together to promote the sector at home and abroad, as well as the need for any changes to allow it to capitalise on its own intellectual property.

“There’s never been anything like this done before in the Scottish creative industries, where we’ve been able to look at them quite holistically to see where support from Westminster and the Scottish Parliament work together to try to grow the sector,” said Wishart.

The inquiry launch came after BBC Scotland’s head of public policy and corporate affairs, Ian Small, defended the corporation after its annual report showed 48 per cent of Scots did not believe the broadcaster accurately reflected the country.

Small told Good Morning Scotland: “This is a figure produced by the BBC Trust and my understanding is that it was based on a very small sample of a couple of hundred people.

“It does seem to me to sit at odds with the fact that Reporting Scotland for example regularly brings in an audience of 500,000 viewers every night.”

However, he added: “If underpinning all that there is a question that should the BBC and could the BBC do more relative to Scottish viewers and listeners then I think the answer is undoubtedly yes.

“A good job is being done by BBC Scotland’s news and current affairs — but that is not to say a better job could not be done.”

John Nicolson, the SNP’s media spokesman at Westminster, earlier this week exhumed the case for a Scottish 6pm TV bulletin which would include national and international news.

Scotland’s other main broadcaster STV announced plans for a Scottish Six — in collaboration with ITN — in 2009, but the idea was later dropped to retain a North news service and separate west and east Central Scotland facilities.

A spokesperson for STV said: “Scotland Tonight, our coverage of the referendum last year, and more recently the UK General Election have all received much praise.

“We constantly look at ways to build on this reputation and are always looking to innovate and develop in new ways.”