A former senior BBC reporter says the broadcaster has failed to reach out to 海角视频 regions, claiming it now “carves up between London and Manchester”.
Julian Knight, the in the General Election, said the BBC’s promise to reach out to the regions was failing.
He is backing the calling for a after it emerged less than nine per cent of the £942 million-a-year raised in the Midlands is spent here.
Mr Knight in backing the campaign.
The BBC Trust has set a target of seeing 50 per cent of network budget spent outside London by 2016.
However, Mr Knight, who was a consumer affairs and personal finance reporter for the BBC between 2002 and 2007, said while Greater Manchester had seen the benefit of this, the Midlands had not.
Indeed, the Midlands is the only 海角视频 region outside London where BBC spending has fallen in the past five years.
He said: “The BBC’s intention in moving resources out of London was a good one but the way they went about it – focusing everything on Manchester – was wrong.
Most Read
“Their biggest impact is pushing up property prices in leafy Manchester suburbs there still isn’t enough regional character to the output. They have moved staff but not the character of the organisation.
“We have a BBC which is too centred on London and Manchester and seemingly leaving the rest of us to our own devices.
“The BBC should be urged to rethink its policies, bring about genuine regionalisation and invest in the Midlands. Real regionalisation is what we want, not this carve up between London and Manchester.”
Mr Knight went on to become the money and property editor for the Independent after leaving the BBC but will contest the Solihull seat, currently held by Liberal Democrat Lorely Burt, later this year.
Ms Burt has already called on the BBC to stop ignoring the Midlands, saying: “The BBC produces fantastic programmes but our area clearly deserves its fair share.”
Midland licence fee payers contribute £942 million to the BBC, yet the corporation invested just £80 million across the region last year.
For every family paying a licence fee in this region, the BBC spends just £12 while it invests £80 in the North, £122 in Wales and £757 in London.
Don’t miss
The Post is campaigning, ahead of debates over the BBC’s 10-year charter expected to start in June, for half of all licence fee money raised in a region to be spent there.
Currently, about 50 per cent or more of funds raised in all regions outside the Midlands are re-invested there.
A BBC spokesman said: “As we have stated before, Birmingham is really important to us and that’s why we’ve put a lot of effort into building up the BBC in the city over the past 12 months. We’re investing an additional £23.5 million in Birmingham and are moving another 200 jobs there, including the globally respected BBC Academy.
“Licence fee payers rightly expect us to operate efficiently, and it’s simply not affordable to have BBC studio facilities in every part of the country. But BBC Birmingham remains the home of the world’s most popular radio drama, The Archers, and popular BBC One shows like Doctors, Father Brown and forthcoming drama The Coroner.
“It’s crucial that we produce programmes and services that reflect the whole region properly and 78 per cent of people in the West Midlands say they approve of the BBC. We’re clear that BBC Birmingham will be a strong, vibrant, and sustainable base, fit for the future in a fast changing media landscape.”
He added: “BBC English regions produces around 52 per cent of all BBC output – with daily regional TV News in 12 regions, weekly current affairs and politics shows in 11 regions, 39 local radio stations and 42 local websites. And, for the first time ever the BBC has the majority of its staff based in the regions – hitting a 12-year target one year early, and ensuring the BBC better represents the whole of the 海角视频.”