The director general of the BBC has vowed to ensure Birmingham is an “integral” part of the broadcaster – as more politicians backed the Post’s calls for a fair deal from the broadcaster.
Tony Hall said he was committed to making sure the West Midlands is “properly represented and reflected” by the BBC in a letter to the Post.
Prime Minister David Cameron and Mayor of London Boris Johnson, along with production industry professionals have backed calls for the BBC to invest a fair share in the region.
Now, senior politicians from Warwickshire and the Black Country have demanded action.
The Post's demands of the BBC
While the broadcaster reinvests about 50 per cent or more in every other UK region, that figure was 8.5 per cent in the Midlands – which sets the region back by about £400 million a year.
Meanwhile, the few remaining representatives of the region’s television production industry say it has been decimated by a lack of investment and commissioning.
In a letter to the Post, Mr Hall states: “What the BBC does outside of London is of huge interest to me and I’m committed to making sure the West Midlands is properly represented and reflected in our output.
“I want to strengthen the BBC’s presence and make sure that Birmingham is an integral part of our creative operation.”
Mr Hall said he had asked director for England Peter Salmon to report back to the Post on its concerns.
He was responding after the Post launched a campaign demanding half of the revenue raised for the BBC by Midland licence fee-payers – £942 million last year – is reinvested in the region each year.
On the basis the BBC claims a £2 economic boost for every £1 it spents, that would mean almost £800 million a year more for the region’s coffers.
Presently, for every family paying a licence fee in this region, the BBC spends just £12 while it invests £80 in the North, £122 in Wales and £757 in London.
Sandwell Council leader Darren Cooper has backed the Post’s campaign, saying the region was getting a “raw deal”.
He said: “Clearly, the West Midlands is the poor relation to the BBC and we are getting a really poor deal.
“The campaign which the Post and Mail have started is something that I absolutely endorse.
“How they justify collecting that much TV licence fee money from our area and only give us that little snippet I don’t know. It seems totally unfair and needs correcting.
“I am sure the BBC are having to make difficult decisions, just like the public sector, but they are not helping their cause with this.
“The licence fee-payer in this region is getting a raw deal.”
More: Regional commissioners needed for 'mismatch' in BBC spending, MP claims
The Post’s campaign also calls for a return of commissioning to the region. While previously shows like Top Gear and The Archers were commissioned here, today there would unlikely be the budget for such things.
The Midlands is also the only BBC region without a network television production studio.
As a result, no prime-time BBC television is produced here, nor anything on BBC2, BBC3, Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3 or Radio 5.
It comes at a vital time, with negotiations over the BBC’s next 10-year charter expected to begin after the General Election.
The campaign has also won the support of a senior politician in Coventry.
Geoffrey Robinson, Labour’s candidate for the Coventry North West seat in the General Election, called for the broadcaster invest the same proportion of its budget here that it does in the North or South.
He said: “The BBC needs to step up and implement a solid and urgent plan to ensure that this inequity is addressed. This region’s talent will otherwise continue to ebb away, which will cause unacceptable and preventable damage to our media and creative industries. This cannot not be allowed to happen.”
“The BBC produces fantastic programmes but this region clearly deserves its fair share.”
A BBC spokesman said 78 per cent of people in the West Midlands approve of the BBC.
He added: “As we have previously stated, Birmingham is really important to us and that’s why we’ve put a lot of effort into building up the BBC in the city over the past 12 months. We’re investing an additional £23.5 million in Birmingham and are moving another 200 jobs there, including the globally respected BBC Academy.
"Licence fee payers rightly expect us to operate efficiently, and it’s simply not affordable to have BBC studio facilities in every part of the country.
"But BBC Birmingham remains the home of the world’s most popular radio drama, The Archers, and popular BBC One shows like Doctors, Father Brown and forthcoming drama The Coroner.”
