º£½ÇÊÓÆµ

Oops.

Our website is temporarily unavailable in your location.

We are working hard to get it back online.

PRIVACY
Economic Development

BBC may be told to invest in Midlands as part of Charter review, says Culture Secretary John Whittingdale

Concerns that the BBC is failing to give the West Midlands a fair share of investment will be considered in the review of the BBC Charter which must be renewed next year, the Culture Secretary has told MPs

The Post's campaign calling for a fair deal from the BBC

The could be ordered to invest more of its £5 billion budget in the West Midlands, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale has told MPs.

He said a review of the BBC’s Charter would consider concerns that it was pumping money into London and the North West at the expense of other regions including the West Midlands.

The BBC Charter, which sets out the BBC’s obligations, is due to expire at the end of 2016 and a new one will need to be drawn up before then.

Mr Whittingdale told Birmingham MP (Lab ) and Julian Knight (Con ) that concerns about funding would be part of the Charter talks.

For every family paying for their licence, the BBC spends just £12.40 in the Midlands while it invests £80.24 in the North, a hefty £122.24 in Wales and a staggering £757.24 in London.

The Birmingham Post has launched a campaign calling for half of the £942 million-a-year Midland families pay in licence fees to be reinvested in this region.

Where the money goes: the Midlands gets a raw deal from the BBC

The MPs questioned Mr Whittingdale as he told the House of Commons that the BBC had agreed to fund free TV licences for over-75s from 2020/21. The cost was previously met by the Treasury.

Mrs Stuart told him: “Of the £942 million raised in the West Midlands on the back of the BBC licence fee only about 8.5 per cent is actually spent in the region.