The BBC has been urged to base its new production division in Birmingham.

Campaigners and MPs have called on the broadcaster to base BBC Studios, a new division allowing the corporation's production departments to make shows for other broadcasters, in the city.

They claim the central location and ready skill base would be ideal for the new operation – as well as addressing a major shortfall in spending across the Midlands.

Last year, the BBC reinvested just 8.5 per cent of the £942 million spent by Midland licence fee-payers back into the region – whereas it reinvests about 50 per cent or more in the six other UK regions.

While proposals for BBC Studios are being worked up, amid wider charter renewal debates, politicians from both sides of the political divide have called for Birmingham to be considered.

Andrew Mitchell (Con Sutton Coldfield) told the Post : "Because Birmingham is a British centre of the creative arts, it is clearly the right place for the BBC to carry through this initiative."

He added: "I think the BBC need to invest further in Birmingham, as they used to in the past.

"It is not clear why the BBC has down-scaled its investment in Birmingham and up-scaling would be welcomed by all of us."

Gisela Stuart (Lab Edgbaston) added: "No amount of good intentions and kind words get around the very simple and basic fact that unless we start commissioning programmes and producing programmes in Birmingham, the West Midlands as a region will not get a fair reflection of their licence fee contribution and cultural significance.

"For that reason we need a programme commissioner based in the region and studio facilities."

BBC Studios will be headed up by former BBC England boss Peter Salmon, who will continue to be based in London. Detail of the operation is scant but it has been created to separate TV production from TV commissioning to boost creativity and competitiveness in television production. In the long term, BBC Studios is expected to become a subsidiary of the corporation with a target of half of BBC programmes being made in-house now set to be scrapped.

Campaign for Regional Broadcasting Midlands (CRBM) is calling on the BBC to up its spend in this region as the £80 million it spent here last year was less than it spent in London – a smaller region – in 12 days.

CRBM chairman Mike Bradley said: "If this is not about facilities – if BBC Studios will be more a publisher and commissioner, using sub-contracted talent and production studios – then the Midlands is possibly the most ideal region to be located in.

"There would be shorter travelling times and a much lower cost base for space and staff costs.

"All of these are good business reasons to consider the Midlands as an ideal base for broadcasting. Especially for any organisation that is serious about cost savings and efficiencies.

"At the very least, the Midlands as an option should be on the table, but from what I can tell, it is not."

While the BBC has responded to criticism by moving jobs to The Mailbox, largely in HR, campaigners are united that commissioning and production have to be shifted to the region.

Presently, no prime-time BBC television is made in the Midlands, which accounts for a quarter of licence fee income.

A BBC spokesman said it would be "business as usual" for production throughout the UK.

She said: "The BBC is fully committed to the nations and regions and we expect BBC production to continue to have bases all over the UK. Whilst work is in progress on BBC Studios it will be business as usual across all the BBC's production bases in the UK."