The BBC Audience Councils agree joint
priorities from the perspective of audiences
in their nations. Seven joint priorities were
proposed to the Trust in 2010/11. Audience
Council Scotland drew two further
priorities to the attention of the Trust.
Universality of access
Councils were concerned about access
to BBC services by some audiences who
are unable to receive them, particularly
on some digital platforms. There were
particular concerns about the quality
and extent of DAB coverage. In addition,
Councils would also like to see a coherent
UK-wide strategy on the roll-out of nations
and regions programming in HD.
The Audience Council Scotland (ACS)
expressed concern that, in spite of the
addition of new DAB transmitters for
network services, a significant proportion
of the Scottish population could not receive
DAB radio. In addition, the Council believes
the impact of BBC Radio Scotland would
be increased if it were to be available on a
single FM wavelength across Scotland.
Stimulating citizenship and civil society
The Councils believe the BBC should play
a stronger role in facilitating public debate
with informed coverage of issues across
the UK, and an increasing depth and breadth
in the BBC’s international reporting.
The ACS would like to see deeper
analysis and a stronger sense of challenge
in coverage of nations’ issues such as
sectarianism or alcohol abuse (at nations
and network level), and a response to the
problem of finding the right balance of
coverage between Scottish and England
only-issues in news. Content research
undertaken by the Trust demonstrates a
continued bias on network news towards
stories about England.
Portrayal and network supply
The Councils ask the Trust to continue to
challenge the Executive to produce tangible
enhancements to the full, authentic and
accurate portrayal of different communities
and identities across the UK.
The ACS welcomes the increase in Scottish
drama on the networks and looks forward
to further progress in the year ahead.
Strategy Review and licence fee settlement
The Councils want to ensure that value for
money is pursued fairly for all audiences
across all strands of work, particularly
as difficult decisions are made as a result
of the licence fee settlement.
Promoting education and learning
The Councils welcome the BBC’s strategy
for formal and informal learning, and look
forward to understanding how it will
impact on diverse audiences such as older
audiences, those not in employment, or
learners in the devolved nations where
different circumstances apply.
Quality and distinctiveness
The Councils welcome the commitment
to quality and distinctiveness in the BBC
Strategy Review and want to see the
tangible benefits for audiences in BBC
services at network, national and local
levels. In particular, audiences wish to see
consistent standards of quality being met
in both network and opt out programmes.
Older audiences
The Councils raised concerns about
how well the needs of older audiences
were being met, and how any gaps might
be addressed.
BBC ALBA
The ACS noted audience appreciation
of the quality of BBC ALBA content,
and some concerns about how it can
be maintained in the longer term as the
inherited programme stock is depleted
and the level of originations falls.
BBC content for audiences in Scotland
The ACS’s submissions to the BBC Radio
3, 4 and 7 and nations radio service
reviews highlighted that there is a wealth
of BBC content scattered across BBC
radio schedules that is culturally relevant
to audiences in Scotland. The Council
suggested that the Trust ask the Executive
to consider how best to commission,
schedule and distribute such content
to maximise its reach, impact and public
value for audiences in Scotland, particularly
in the light of the constraints of the licence
fee settlement.