Burnham criticises ITV's regional failure

Culture secretary Andy Burnham has criticised ITV for failing to meet its quota for the proportion of its production budget spent outside London.

"I find it very disappointing indeed that ITV have missed their regional production quota for the second year on the run," he said. Ofcom confirmed last month that the broadcaster fell below the 50% required in 2006 and 2007.

Burnham said yesterday: "These are legal requirements… these things are not negotiable. They are important legal requirements that have not been met. This does make me question whether enough attention is given to these issues."

The minister said viewers liked regional news and regionally produced programmes. "We need to chart a path to the future that preserves the distinctiveness of programming," he added.

On the future of public service broadcasting in general, Burnham said he had "an open mind" and awaited recommendations from Ofcom.

However, he is against a relaxation of impartiality standards on non-PSB news. "I would oppose a move to the so-called Americanisation of television news," he said.

"This whittling away of standards and quality is really dangerous in my view. Once you change you can never go back. Viewers like, trust and respect impartial news, to change that would be a very backward step."