SCOTTISH politicians of all parties are being urged to sign a motion in the House of Commons condemning “the BBC's contemptuous treatment of Scotland” after a bid by the corporation in London to take over the running of parts of the service in Glasgow.
The early day motion has been put down by the former Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill following an investigation by The National exposing the plan which has been condemned by the main broadcasting trade union Bectu and is opposed by senior BBC executives in Scotland.
Staff and industry figures fear the impact of the move by the BBC in London to pass the running of two studios at Pacific Quay to Studioworks in Elstree, an arm of the BBC in London.
They are concerned it may lead to dozens of job losses among technical staff, including camera operators, sound engineers and vision mixers at BBC Scotland and cause wider damage to country’s television sector, many of whom rely on freelance contract work given to them by the Scottish based studios.
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MacAskill’s motion, which was lodged on Monday, also calls for the devolution of broadcasting to help protect the industry from the move and any similar future plans.
He told The National: “These plans are a blatant power grab and effective seizure of BBC Scotland assets and must be stopped in their tracks.
“The best way of ensuring that these jobs are secured and that many more are created in the future is through passing the powers over Broadcasting to the Scottish Parliament.
“These plans which would see BBC Scotland charged in future for using studios which they currently own are a kick in the teeth to the loyal and dedicated staff who work at the studios.
“They starkly demonstrate what happens when power is exercised by a BBC management and board remote from and indeed hostile to the needs of their own employees and licence payers.
“It is unthinkable that a public sector broadcaster accountable to the Scottish Parliament would behave in such a fashion. That is why I am calling on broadcasting powers to be transferred to Scotland rather than ownership of the BBC studios being passed to London.
“At the very least and in the interim I am calling for a BBC Scotland board to be established, replacing the BBC Scotland Scottish Advisory Council. This would be appointed by the Scottish Parliament to provide oversight of the organisation and reflect Scottish views.
“Scottish MPs of all parties should unite to support this to call time on the BBC’s contemptuous treatment of Scotland, to save vital Scottish jobs and to ensure the fair and balanced coverage which viewers and listeners in Scotland are entitled to receive, something which has been sadly absent in its recent reporting of the Euro 2020 Football Championships.”
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Ross Greer, the Scottish Greens’ MSP, raised the row over the planned transfer of the the Pacific Quay Studios with Nicola Sturgeon at First Minister’s Questions last week, noting the final decision over the control of the facilities would be made next month.
“Next month, the BBC will make a final decision on the proposal to transfer ownership of its Glasgow Pacific Quay studios to a subsidiary company,” he said. “Staff have been warned that that could result in dozens of redundancies and no Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations transfer.
“There are wider concerns across the Scottish production sector that the transfer will restrict access to the studios, as decisions on access will be made from London.”
He asked what representation the Scottish Government had made to the BBC about the proposal and whether a government minister would meet Bectu to discuss the situation and how jobs can be saved.
Sturgeon replied: “We regularly make representations to the BBC on such matters, which of course have nothing to do with the BBC’s editorial decisions. For example, personally, I have made representations in the past about the need to build up production capacity in Scotland and for the BBC to spend more of the licence money that Scottish viewers pay in Scotland to support the economy and production opportunities here.”
She added she shared the concerns and hoped the move would not go ahead.
“I cannot see – and have not seen – anything that suggests it would be in the interests of Scotland as a whole or of the production sector in particular,” she said adding the government would be happy to meet with Bectu.
Culture Secretary Angus Robertson is due to meet the BBC’s director general Tim Davie to outline the government’s opposition to the plan and to raise concerns over the proportion of the licence fee raised in Scotland which is spent in Scotland.
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