Lord Patten: The BBC must better reflect Scotland, its culture and identity

The Royal Society of Edinburgh - home to the nation's leading scholars - has already said there should be changes to the way the BBC is governed, to ensure Scotland has a bigger say. The BBC is currently accountable to the UK Parliament.

The RSE position, scripted by a working group chaired by former BBC Scotland controller John McCormick also calls for a stronger news service for Scotland.

The Scottish Government has also called for a semi-autonomous Scottish board to be created to hold BBC Scotland to account. The board would itself be accountable to the Scottish Parliament.

In a speech by Patten at the Reuter’s Institute Lecture, the former EU commissioner supported moves for the BBC to better reflect Scots and their identity.

He said: "The people of Scotland spoke a year and a half ago about their wish to remain within the UK, but no-one should doubt that they also want a greater recognition of Scotland's own national identity.

"In broadcasting there is a clear demand - and it comes from Wales and Northern Ireland too - for their own nations and histories and cultures and politics to be better reflected to audiences across the UK. I agree with them.

"Whether you live in Orkney or Osterley, Portsmouth or Portrush, Stockton or Swansea, everyone pays the same licence fee and they deserve equally to see their own communities and interests and concerns and achievements on their BBC."

He added: "The strength of one United Kingdom comes from the strength of its four nations, and the strength of one BBC must come from utilising and reflecting and celebrating the talents and ideas and heritage of each of those nations.

"I would no more split up the BBC than I would split up the Kingdom, but any UK institution that claims to serve these islands must embrace that duty fully."

However, he did also defend the BBC, and supported the work the corporation was already doing to reflect identities within the UK.

"When you hear politicians call for a more distinctive BBC, remind them of outstanding British drama made in every corner of the UK - remind them of The Fall from Northern Ireland. Remind them of Shetland and of Hinterland.

"Ask them where else they’d find network drama made and set in Scotland. Ask them where else they’d go for network drama made and set in Wales. Only the BBC."

Culture Secretary John Whittingdale is due to publish a White Paper within weeks that will set out a tougher new regime as part of a proposed deal to grant a new Royal Charter to safeguard the service for another 11 years.

In his speech, Patten said the forthcoming charter is "the one chance we have to stop the BBC becoming more and more the plaything of the government of the day".

The SNP wants broadcasting policy to be fully devolved to Holyrood and sees charter renewal as a stepping-stone towards this ambition.

It has also argued for local control of the licence fee to increase investment and jobs in Scotland.

In a policy paper on charter renewal, the party said an autonomous BBC Scotland, with greater control of licence fee revenue, budgets and commissioning, could boost the country’s economy by £60 million a year.

The BBC receives about £3.7bn every year from the TV licence fee, with about £323m collected in Scotland.

The Royal Charter is the constitutional basis for the BBC and sets out the public purposes of the public broadcaster, guarantees its independence, and outlines the duties of the people that run it - the Trust and the Executive Board.

The current charter states that the BBC exists to serve the public interest. It sets out how the BBC should serve audiences through its six "public purposes" such as "representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities".

The charter runs until December 31 2016, and the UK government has already started a review process to put in place a new charter for the next 10 years.