BBC boss outlines fee deal view

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The controller of BBC Scotland, Ken MacQuarrie, has been speaking about what the licence fee settlement will mean for services north of the border.

The BBC has said it was disappointed by the UK Government's decision to raise the licence fee by a maximum of £20 over the next six years.

It had wanted more to cover increased costs and the digital TV switchover.

Mr MacQuarrie said planned new services would have to be examined to see if they were still possible as a result.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell announced on Thursday that the TV licence fee would rise by 3% over each of the next two years.

Strong position

Ms Jowell told the House of Commons that the deal would see the fee rise from £131.50 to £135.50 on 1 April, then rise gradually to a maximum £151.50 in 2012.

Unions have warned that a 3% deal would seriously hit programmes. BBC director-general Mark Thompson called the deal "disappointing", but added that quality would not suffer.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr MacQuarrie said BBC Scotland was not immune from any of the tough choices the corporation now faces.

The key priority is to safeguard the quality of the output that we deliver at the moment Ken MacQuarrie BBC Scotland Controller

However, he said that with the move to new headquarters in Glasgow, the corporation north of the border was in a stronger position to cope with the consequences of the licence fee ruling than other arms of the organisation.

He said: "In Scotland we have particular advantages in that at the end of July we will move into our new building at Pacific Quay which will have world-leading digital technology.

"That's a fantastic place for us to be in as far as the delivery to the audience is concerned, but also in giving our staff the tools that they need to do the job."

He added: "That does not mean we will not have the same tough choices to make.

"The key priority is to safeguard the quality of the output that we deliver at the moment but also to look at the new services over the next few months and take these plans to the BBC Trust in the Spring.

"There will probably be a decision in the autumn as to what we will do and what scale we will do it on and also what we would drop off as far as the new content investments are concerned."