The BBC has been told to air more British-made programmes and spend the same on viewers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as it does in England, under new rules set by Ofcom.

The media regulator has said that 90% of all peak-time programming on BBC One and BBC Two must be original productions commissioned by the corporation for UK audiences, effectively meaning a ban on US imports and repeats in the evening. Overall, 75% of programming must be original British content.

Ofcom said the rules would mean “more Doctor Foster, more Night Manager, more UK drama and comedy, and less acquired content”.

The BBC will also have to spend the same per head on content in each country of the UK following criticism from audiences in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that the BBC was not doing enough. At least half of the programme hours on the BBC must include content made outside London.

Kevin Bakhurst, the content and media policy director at Ofcom, said the combination of new rules on original content, spending across the UK, and diversity would boost television production across the country.

“It will make a real change in production and UK-made programmes,” he said. “It will support production across the country and improve the representation of people who don’t feel they are represented properly.”

On diversity, Bakhurst said Ofcom had set “the most demanding set of criteria the BBC has ever faced”. The corporation will have to publish information about its workforce every year – including their gender, sexuality, disability, ethnic background and socioeconomic class – and will have to put in place measures to make improvements if Ofcom rules that audiences are not satisfied.

The BBC also has to draw up a code of proctice that ensures the production companies it commissions to make programmes are taking action on diversity.

However, in a move that will disappoint campaigners, such as Sir Lenny Henry, Ofcom’s operating licence for the BBC will not include diversity quotas for off-screen staff. Henry has accused the regulator of being “strangely passive” about making the BBC improve its diversity.

Instead, Ofcom has effectively endorsed the BBC’s aim to employ 15% of staff from ethnic minorities and for 50% of all staff and leadership roles to be held by women by 2020.

This is the first year the BBC has been regulated by an external body after the BBC Trust was disbanded earlier this year. Ofcom published a draft operating licence in March and since then has been criticised for proposing fewer quotas for content than the trust.

However, Bakhurst said Ofcom was still proposing 100 different numerical targets – slightly less than the BBC – and these were “stricter and stronger in the key areas that matter to audiences”.

Other new rules for the BBC include Radio 1 and Radio 2 playing a broader range of music than commercial stations, more original UK content for children, more news and current affairs on Radio 2, more arts, music and religious programmes on BBC One and BBC Two, and the safeguarding of comedy on the main BBC channels with a guarantee of at least 300 hours a year.

A BBC spokesperson said the corporation was already meeting the targets for original British content. However, it will have to increase its spending in the English regions outside London in order to meet the new quotas on spending per head. The BBC spent 10.3% of its programme budget in Scotland last year, 5.8% in Wales and 3.1% in Northern Ireland. This is in line with Ofcom’s targets, but the 31.4% for the regions of England will need to increase to 34%.

The BBC said: “These are a tough and challenging set of requirements which rightly demand a distinctive BBC which serves and represents all audiences throughout the whole UK. We will now get on with meeting these requirements and continuing to provide the world-class, creative BBC the public wants.



“We are glad Ofcom has recognised the importance of our existing workforce diversity targets.”



Diversity campaigners said Ofcom’s rules for the BBC were a “small but important step forward”.

Simon Albury, the chairman of the Campaign for Broadcasting Equality, said: “Ofcom is starting to take off-screen diversity seriously at last but is not requiring data or targets on independent production and external supply. A lot depends on the code of practice and how it will be enforced.”