Scotland’s Culture Secretary has met with BBC bosses amid a row over its hit TV show The Traitors being classed as a Scottish production.
Angus Robertson met with both the BBC and regulator Ofcom after it was alleged money spent on the show, which is hosted by Claudia Winkleman and filmed at a castle in the Highlands, “isn’t translating into a fair level of job opportunity across the UK”.
Director Peter Strachan is reported to have said 81% of the production team for the show were based in London – claiming this was not “in the spirit” of Ofcom’s regional production guidelines.
These require producers to meet two out of three criteria, by either having a “substantive base” in the region, having at least 70% of spending outside of London, and at least half of all off-screen staff based outside the UK capital.
Raising the issue in Holyrood, Labour MSP Foysol Choudhury said: “Recent reports claimed BBC show the Traitors was classed as a Scottish production, despite most production staff being based outside Scotland.
“Practices like this concentrate jobs in London, and South East England, forcing Scots to leave for better opportunities or quit the industry entirely.”
In response, Mr Robertson noted there are “rules there to make sure we get the maximum value in support of our screen sector in Scotland”.
He added that the Labour MSP had “raised a very specific case”, and said: “That has prompted me to hold meetings directly with Ofcom and the British Broadcasting Corporation to ensure that rules and the spirit of the rules are upheld.”
However Mr Robertson told MSPs that overall the “direction of travel, in terms of more Scottish productions, especially for public service broadcasters, has been increasing and that is good thing”.
