Now BBC cuts spending in Scotland by £15MILLION

By GRAHAM GRANT, SCOTTISH HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR Published: 11:30, 17 July 2026 | Updated: 11:45, 17 July 2026 The BBC’s spending on programmes commissioned in Scotland has fallen by more than 11 per cent in the past year, according to its annual report. Expenditure slumped from £131million to £116million in a ‘deeply disappointing’ development for licence fee payers. It comes after the Mail revealed only one in eight Scots watched the BBC Scotland digital channel each week last year, despite it costing more than £200million since its launch in 2019. Scottish Tory public service reform and culture spokesman Murdo Fraser said: ‘Such a cut in spending on Scottish content will be deeply disappointing for licence fee payers, who rightly expect the BBC to reflect and invest in all parts of the UK. ‘At a time when families are still being forced to pay the licence fee, the BBC must be transparent about why spending has fallen and set out how it intends to ensure Scottish audiences receive the high-quality programming they deserve.’ River City fans were outraged this week after the £5million set was filmed being bulldozed.  The soap opera, which had been running for 24 years, wrapped up in April after bosses decided it was ‘no longer value for money’. Commenting on the figures, John Cook, emeritus professor of media at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: ‘The most disturbing aspect in the annual report is the reported fall on total BBC spend on Scotland content.  River City's torn-down set near Dumbarton this week 'This is the wrong direction of travel if the BBC are truly serious and mean what they say about trying to diversify production out to the nations and regions.’  The figures relate to spending on content by ‘local commissioning teams’ based in Scotland, which has fallen by more than 11 per cent.  The BBC pointed to other figures showing spending on content which is ‘often commissioned by network commissioners who live and work in Scotland’.  The corporation said network and local commissioning teams ‘often co-invest in titles together’. When the network spending is also considered, the BBC said total expenditure on content in Scotland, both network and local, shows an increase in the past year of £3million to £219million.  The figures follow a row last year over the use of English production companies after it was revealed that hit TV show The Traitors – filmed at Ardross Castle near Inverness – employed 81 per cent of its staff from London. The BBC claimed that when network spending was taken into account, there is ‘no decline in content spend, in fact overall BBC total spend in Scotland has increased’. A spokesman said: ‘There is always a variation in spend from year-to-year as titles are only reflected in accounts when we transmit them irrespective of when we actually pay for them.’