The BBC should review its approach to the coverage of "controversial political issues" in Scotland in the wake of last year's referendum, according to an audience panel.

In the corporation's annual review, the Audience Council Scotland said some network programmes had appeared to adopt what was described as an "Anglified perspective" during the independence debate and focused too much on the official campaigns "at the expense of the wider civic and community engagement".

The council, which advises the BBC Trust, said BBC Scotland should be given greater authority and resources to commission programmes for Scottish audiences and review its approach to the coverage of controversial political issues "to ensure that perceptions of impartiality remain strong across all audiences".

Analysis from audience councils and focus groups found 48% of people in Scotland think the BBC is good at representing their life in news and current affairs content, compared with 61% in England, 61% in Northern Ireland and 55% in Wales.

The BBC annual review read: "The BBC has a key role to play in ensuring it represents the nations in news, drama and entertainment, and our research shows that over half feel that the BBC represents their nation or region in its content, and supports minority languages.

"Nonetheless there is still some way to go, particularly in Scotland. People are accessing content using a variety of platforms where only around 50% of the audience feel that their nation is effectively represented."

The Audience Council Scotland praised a series of documentaries on the referendum and the online resources available, but added: "Members questioned whether, overall, the coverage had captured the popular nature of the campaign and the increased role of social media.

"The council also felt that BBC network programmes, overall, did not engage with the issues until too late a stage, and that some had been less well informed, and that this diluted the value of the coverage at both Scottish and UK levels.

"There was some audience perception that network correspondents were increasingly used in place of BBC Scotland correspondents in the final weeks of the campaign.

"Some council members believed BBC coverage had focused too much on the official campaigns, at the expense of the wider civic and community engagement; and that certain network programmes had appeared to adopt what was described as an 'Anglified' perspective."

The annual review also shows that the referendum and the Commonwealth Games helped the BBC reach record audiences in Scotland last year.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said: "As we have stated previously, we stand by our coverage of the referendum which was fair and impartial.

"No complaints about impartiality were upheld by the BBC Trust and there were no complaints of bias from the leaders of the opposing Better Together and Yes campaigns."

Scottish Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "The UK Government and BBC are continuing to sell Scotland short on broadcasting.

"Today's annual report from the BBC shows not only that Scotland is again the only part of the UK where more than half of the people do not believe the BBC is properly reflecting life in their nation, but that Scotland's share of network production has also fallen.

"While there are areas where the broadcaster has fallen short of the expectations of its audience in Scotland, we believe the charter renewal process should be used to deliver positive reform which helps the BBC deliver for Scotland and protect the corporation's independence.

"It's therefore extremely disappointing that the UK Government has failed to seek the Scottish Government's view on either the licence fee settlement or the recent appointments to the advisory panel on charter renewal.

"As a result, Scotland's views appear to be, at best, under-represented on the panel advising on BBC Charter renewal and funding.

"The UK Government's actions demonstrate that Scotland is not yet being fully consulted on matters relating to charter renewal, and represent a clear breach of the Smith Commission agreement on the BBC."

Scottish Conservative culture spokeswoman Liz Smith said: "The paranoia among nationalist supporters about media bias was ludicrous in the extreme.

"Like other media outlets, the BBC did a fair and fantastic job in covering the referendum.

"Every political cause would like more favourable coverage, so the fact everyone thinks this about the BBC probably indicates it did a good job."

SNP broadcasting spokesman John Nicolson MP said: "The spirit of engagement in Scottish politics sparked by the independence referendum is its lasting legacy, and if the BBC can use the experience of the referendum to improve future coverage then that is welcome.

"The BBC's own survey has found that Scotland is the only part of the UK where more than half of the people do not believe the BBC is properly reflecting life in their nation. There has also been a fall in network production from Scotland - it is unacceptable for the people of Scotland to be continually short-changed by the BBC and the UK Government in this way.

"Where the broadcaster has clearly fallen short of the expectations of its audience in Scotland in some areas, the upcoming charter renewal process is a real opportunity to deliver positive reform which helps the BBC deliver for people of Scotland and also protect the corporation's independence.

"That's why it's so disappointing that the Tories appear determined to use the charter renewal process to attack the BBC, and slash the services it provides.

"BBC Scotland should receive a fairer share of BBC income, reflecting more accurately the licence fee revenue raised here in Scotland. This would provide a funding boost to deliver important new opportunities for production companies and the creative sector in Scotland."

Meanwhile, the corporation had its busiest ever year in 2014, with the referendum and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The opening ceremony attracted a maximum of 1.8 million Scottish viewers, with 9.3 million tuning in across the UK, the BBC Trust's annual report said.

In Scotland, TV audiences for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Glasgow games were the third and fourth highest since 2002.

However, the BBC's coverage of the Scottish independence referendum was "inadequate overall", a new report by the corporations advisory body found.

The BBC's annual report is published with an Audience Council review of its service for each part of the UK.

In Scotland the council said that, while reporting that BBC Scotland's coverage of the independence referendum was "thorough", post-referendum, the BBC should review how it operates in Scotland.

The report said: "The council believes it is very important that the BBC now consider carefully all the issues that have been raised.

"The election result in May poses new challenges for BBC network news to properly explain the differing policy landscape across the nations of the UK.

"And in the wake of the referendum, it is important that the BBC reassess its offering for audiences in Scotland and the way in which it is accountable to licence payers here."

It added: "The council felt that while BBC Scotland coverage was thorough, BBC network coverage of the issues raised was inadequate overall, and came too late in the debate."

The largest televised political debate in the UK, in front of 7,500 young voters, was broadcast on BBC One from SSE Hydro in Glasgow on September 11, and the Alex Salmond/Alastair Darling debate in August attracted one-third of the TV audience in Scotland.

The referendum boosted audience figures for the corporation: during the week of the referendum vote, 13.2 million UK unique browsers visited the BBC Scotland News Online website - a new weekly record.

The average number of weekly browsers in 2014/15 was 4.7 million.

The report said some Audience Council members believed BBC coverage had focused too much on the official campaigns, "at the expense of the wider civic and community engagement" and that certain network programmes had appeared to adopt what was described as an 'Anglified' perspective.

In the main annual report, a survey also found that in Scotland only 48 per cent of those polled think the BBC is good at representing their "life in news and current affairs content" compared to 61 per cent in England and 55 per cent in Wales.

Mrs Brown's Boys was also the UK's most watched Christmas Day programme, with 9.7 million viewers (34 per cent).

Just over nine per cent of the BBC network broadcasting was created in Scotland, down from 10.9 per cent, with 12,494 hours of radio made in Scotland.

Bill Matthews, the BBC Trustee for Scotland, said: "Noting that BBC Television reached a greater proportion of the audience in Scotland than it did across the UK as a whole, Audience Council Scotland still feels that more should be done in BBC output to reflect the unique cultural and political landscape of Scotland to audiences both in Scotland and across the UK."

In its submission to this year's review by the Trust, the council said that in order to achieve significant progress it may be necessary to devolve network budgets and commissioning powers so that network production in Scotland becomes sustainable in the long term.

The BBC Trust is to undertake an 'impartiality review" on its new coverage and use of statistics in its new and current affairs programming.

The audience report concluded that "BBC Scotland should have greater authority and resources to commission programmes for Scottish audiences so that they may better meet audience tastes, especially in news and drama".

It added: "The BBC should review its approach to the coverage of controversial political issues to ensure that perceptions of impartiality remain strong across all audiences."