Commons committee backs 'Scottish six' plans

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The BBC should pursue plans for an hour-long "Scottish Six" TV news programme, the House of Commons culture committee has said.

BBC Scotland has produced pilots for a programme which could replace Reporting Scotland and the Six O'Clock News in Scotland.

The MPs said it was "perfectly reasonable" for editorial decisions on broadcasts in Scotland to be made in Scotland.

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A BBC spokesman said it was "exploring a number of possible formats".

However, the spokesman underlined the importance of the broadcaster "remaining free from undue political interference".

The proposed changes to programming are part of the BBC's charter review plans, which will decide the direction of the corporation for the next decade.

They have been drawn up in response to criticism that the BBC's main Six O'Clock News programme often features stories on devolved areas such as education and health which are not relevant to Scottish audiences.

A series of different formats have been proposed for the Scottish Six, with three different pilots initially made.

MPs said any new programme should be "anchored in Scotland, with a running order of Scottish, UK and international stories based on news merit, drawing on all the BBC's facilities and broadcast from Scotland".

One proposal was to have segments of UK or international news presented from London, with Scottish stories anchored in Glasgow.

However, the committee said having two studios was a "needless extravagance", with a danger it would "look patronising to a Scottish audience".