SCOTLAND will secure a seat “at the top table” of the BBC following a radical boardroom overhaul, the broadcaster has insisted.
A report on the review of the BBC Charter at Westminster will be published next week when concerns are expected to be raised about Scotland's position within the corporation.
The SNP has already expressed fears that political influence from Whitehall and, in particular from Downing Street, will mean that London will exert maximum control over how primetime news is aired north of the border.
Earlier this month, Tony Hall, the BBC’s director general, announced a new structure for the corporation; the Trust Board, the Executive Board and Executive Team is being replaced by a Unitary Board and an Executive Committee.
Under the old system, directors for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and northern England sat on the Executive Team but under the new one, a single director of Nations and Regions will take a seat on the Executive Committee.
Lord Hall has insisted the overhaul will ensure that the BBC is best equipped to "engage with our audiences" and that the creation of the role of the Nations and Regions Director is notable because the UK is "changing and changing fast; the BBC needs to recognise and address that".
Read more: Overhaul of BBC news in Scotland is long overdue, says new review
But sources at Westminster have raised fears that the new structure will mean Scotland’s voice within the corporation will be much weaker and that Ken MacQuarrie, the Director of BBC Scotland, has now been effectively “demoted”.
However, a BBC spokesman denied this.
He said: “The new Director of Nations and Regions’ role will bring together and enhance the BBC’s offer to the nations and regions of the UK. We have a clear commitment to better portray and represent Scotland to Scottish audiences and those across the UK.
“The role will give the nations and regions of the UK a voice at the top table while the directors of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will continue to play a crucial role,” he added.
The spokesman also pointed out how the Unitary Board would have “three Non-Executive Directors for the Nations” on it.
It is not yet clear when the new Director of Nations and Regions will be appointed or where he or she will be based but the spokesman said the appointee would definitely not be based in London.
The MPs’ report is also expected to contain criticisms of the way the BBC has approached the controversial issue of a new Scottish Six programme.
More pilots are due to be conducted by the BBC in the autumn with three options being considered: an expanded and enhanced Reporting Scotland; a full hour of Scottish news; and broadcasting segments from studios in Glasgow and London.
During recent evidence sessions, the option of a Scottish “top and tail” broadcast from Glasgow with the main UK and international segment broadcast from London was attacked.
Former BBC presenter John Nicolson, the SNP’s media spokesman, who sits on the Commons committee, asked: “Will that not perpetuate the impression that to get the proper stories you have to go to London? Won't that be seen as incredibly patronising?”
Read more: BBC Scotland's Scottish Six pilot could be "patronising", says SNP MP
Gary Smith, BBC Scotland’s head of news, denied there had been any political pressure from No 10 over the corporation’s approach to Scotland.
In his evidence to the committee, Mr MacQuarrie insisted the corporation’s final decision on the news format for Scotland had not yet been decided but would be based on what was best for Scottish viewers.
Mr Nicolson was asked about the content of next Tuesday's report by the committee but declined to comment.
In February, The Herald reported how BBC Scotland had been thrown into turmoil over its plans for a Scottish Six after journalists threatened to block the project unless Mr MacQuarrie agreed to a full consultation on the proposals.
The UK Government is presently reviewing the BBC whose current 10-year charter expires at the end of this year. Its White Paper has made clear the corporation needs to give "greater focus" to audiences in Scotland and across all the nations and regions of the UK.
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