The BBC has pledged to reveal more plans for the Midlands as it was criticised again for its lack of spending on network television programming in the region.

According to the corporation's latest annual report and accounts for 2017/18, the BBC spent just 1.9 per cent of its eligible budget on the Midlands, an area it defines as the West and East Midlands and parts of East of England.

This was in fact a rise from 1.5 per cent for 2016/17 but still paled in comparison to other areas listed in the new report, with the Midlands ranked bottom of the list.

This was despite the fact the Midlands is the largest of the seven regions as defined by the BBC for its financial reporting, and around a quarter of the licence fee is generated here.

Almost half of the BBC's budget (48.9 per cent) was spent in London during 2017/18 followed by the North of England (18.4 per cent), Scotland (9.1 per cent), South of England (8.7 per cent), Wales (6.7 per cent) and Northern Ireland (2.4 per cent).

A final 3.9 per cent was spent in the year to March 31, 2018, on 'multi-region' – programmes made outside of London but which cannot be attributed to any single region or nation.

The BBC's Academy and its BBC Three online channel are both based in Birmingham.

While the city has some television production companies based here, it is constrained by the fact there are no network television studios although this is something Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is keen to address.

Mike Bradley, chairman of the Campaign for Regional Broadcasting Midlands, said the BBC was still failing to meet its charter obligation to represent the Midlands to the nation.

He said: "I would appeal once again to the great and the good who run the dynamic, highly populated and economically important Midlands region to do something about the BBC and the utterly unfair way it continues to allocate its spending across the UK.

"I would question whether the licence fee simply aids and abets the BBC management team as they merrily contravene the Charter requirement laid down by Parliament that requires the BBC to 'reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom's nations and regions'.

"It matters for many reasons, not least because the Midlands subsidises BBC spending in London by some £900 million each year.

"A fantastic figure which also equates to £9.9 billion over the 11-year charter period.

"If some of that was spent in this region, we would see a massive rise in employment in the creative industries, jobs created for young people and a massive boost to the profile and perception of this region at a national and international level."

The BBC said in a statement: "Although this figure shows an increase from last year, it is important to remember it is a narrow measurement.

"Network TV production is just one part of what the BBC does - this figure doesn't even capture all network TV spend in the Midlands because of the way it is calculated.

"For example, BBC One documentary Ambulance, which featured the work of the West Midlands Ambulance Service, isn't included because the production team is based outside the region.

"Our extensive regional and local services, significant network radio output and big events such as BBC Asian Network Live in Birmingham or The Biggest Weekend in Coventry are not reflected in this figure either.

"We are investing more money into the Midlands and bringing jobs and profile to the region.

"There are now 1,200 BBC staff based in the Midlands and we're continuing to grow our commitment by expanding BBC Three in Birmingham.

"Just this week, we have announced a major cricket event will take place in the Midlands this summer and there'll be more exciting BBC content announcements very soon.

"We will also reveal further plans for the BBC in the Midlands in the autumn."