CONFIDENTIAL

MINUTES OF THE AUDIENCE COUNCIL MEETING

Held on Friday, 6 November 2015 at , BBC Scotland

Present: Trust member for Scotland/Chair, Bill Matthews Audience Council Scotland Neelam Bakshi Karen Birch Jane Ferguson Andrew Jones Margaret Hughes Stephen Mackenzie Andrew Neal David Tierney

Apologies: Jennifer Harrower Matthew MacIver

In attendance from the Trust Unit:

Allan Jack Chief Adviser, Scotland Governance Co-ordinator & Secretary to Michelle Dunlop the Council Megan McGinlay Assistant to the Council

From the Executive: Ken MacQuarrie Director, BBC Scotland Alan Dickson Chief Operating Officer, BBC Scotland Geraldine Reilly Business Manager, BBC Scotland

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National Trustee’s Report

The Trustee for Scotland updated members on recent Trust activity including the publication of the terms of reference for the Nations’ service review. The review will cover the performance of BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio nan Gaidheal and BBC Alba as well as looking at news and current affairs on television and BBC nations’ news online. He also drew members’ attention to a speech made by the BBC Trust’s Director of Governance on the future for governance, regulation and funding of the BBC.

He updated members on his recent attendance at the Scottish Affairs Select Committee. Discussion with the Committee included news and current affairs; portrayal and representation, social media and impartiality.

Nations service review – key data and issues

Council members discussed the performance of Radio Scotland and its relationship with other BBC radio stations and commercial radio. Members also discussed the strategic direction of Radio Scotland and its impact and distinctiveness in a competitive marketplace. Members also considered the long-term strategies for both BBC ALBA and BBC Radio nan Gaidheal. Radio nan Gàidheal is seen as a valuable source of high- quality news and comment across Gaelic communities in Scotland however, members raised some concerns about the education and learning purposes of the station. Members discussed the level of English on BBC ALBA and the issue of subtitles and also the need to use social media on both platforms.

Charter Review – reports from sub-groups Council had a further discussion on the Executive’s proposals for creating an open, more distinctive BBC in the next Charter period. Members expressed concerns that there remained issues in the BBC’s proposals in areas such as culture and commissioning; news, current affairs and factual programming and online and digital resources.

Members stressed that better coverage of public policy issues in Scotland was essential and that the current proposals from the BBC Executive did not address the life and story of Scotland strongly enough. Members believe more clarity is required on issues such as the relevance and representation of news for and from Scotland and that a greater understanding on the issue of BBC impartiality was also needed.

Council also expressed its concern about the BBC’s proposed “ideas service”. Whilst they appreciated the aims of the BBC to partner with leading academic, arts and science institutions to curate and commission content and offer an online resource, members said that more clarity was needed on how the partnerships would operate and how it would enable people to learn.

Members discussed the BBC’s online and digital proposals and whilst they recognised that the proposals could provide content they had concerns with CONFIDENTIAL

accessibility and that some sections of the audience could become disenfranchised. Members also considered whether it was correct to assume that everything would be going “livestream”.

Council also raised concerns regarding the current proposals for BBC Studios and stressed that any new model must not overlook the representation of the nations in the output commissioned and produced.

Nations Service Review: Radio Scotland Head of Radio Scotland gave a presentation on the performance and strategy of the station. Head of Radio Scotland summarised the key areas of focus for the station since the last service review. These included varied speech content in daytime and distinctive music programming in the evening. The most recent schedule changes had introduced a new weekend edition of which was being well received. New music content included the launch of the Quay Sessions which showcases live performances from across the musical landscape recorded in front of an audience at BBC Pacific Quay. Other changes included a new media strategy to extend the station’s reach and message and schedule changes to reflect the new political situation and widening range of sports coverage.

Members welcomed the measures being taken to strengthen Radio Scotland’s position in the marketplace however they were aware that there was a challenge around hours of listening and pressure from Radio 2, Radio 4 and Scottish commercial stations.

Executive report and audience logs Director, Scotland reported on activity and performance in BBC Scotland during the last month. He informed members that a new Head of News & Current Affairs had been appointed and would take up his position in January 2016.

He drew members attention to the success of Scots Squad a BBC One Scotland television sitcom series about a fictional Scottish police force and the Story of Scottish Art a four-part series on the development of Scottish art and its impact on the international art world. Date of next meeting The next meeting of the Audience Council for Scotland will be on Friday, 11th December 2015 in Pacific Quay, .

Signed………………………………………………………….. Date…………………..