BBC Charter

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston Excerpts

Thursday 10th March 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Macdonald of Tradeston (Lab)]

My Lords, recent public consultations have raised concerns that the BBC is too London-centric. While MediaCityUK in Salford helps compensate for the decline of ITV production across the north, other English regions could be better served. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland feel that they, too, deserve a better deal. The Campaign for Broadcasting Equality has also expressed concern about low levels of black and minority ethnic employment at the BBC. John Whittingdale has confirmed that DCMS consultations suggest that the BBC needs to do more to increase diversity and to reflect better the experience of people across all our nations and regions.

If we only get one minute each, we will waste 18 minutes of the time for this debate.