The BBC should be accountable to Holyrood, according to Scotland's national academy of science and letters.

In a submission to a major inquiry into the future of public service broadcasting, the Royal Society of Edinburgh - home to the nation's leading scholars - has said there should be changes to the way the BBC is governed, to ensure Scotland has a bigger say. The BBC is currently accountable to the UK Parliament.

The RSE position, scripted by a working group chaired by former BBC Scotland controller John McCormick also calls for a stronger news service for Scotland.

The Scottish Government has called for a semi-autonomous Scottish board to be created to hold BBC Scotland to account. The board would itself be accountable to the Scottish Parliament. Their policy paper will feed into the BBC's charter renewal process, in which the Scottish government has been given a formal role for the first time.

The Scottish government wants broadcasting policy to be fully devolved to Holyrood and sees charter renewal as a stepping-stone towards this ambition.

The RSE says it considers that the Scottish Parliament should be in a position to hold BBC Scotland "to account".

It said: "It is appropriate that the BBC should make itself available for some form of scrutiny by the Scottish Parliament despite public service broadcasting remaining a reserved matter."

It added: "The RSE notes the Scottish Government's proposals for a more federal approach to the structure of the BBC. Irrespective of whether such a settlement is reached, any new governance and regulatory structure for the organisation should not undermine the BBC's independence from governments and politicians."

The RSE's position has been given to the Future for Public Service Television inquiry, previously criticised by the SNP as “weighted heavily towards southern England”.

The organisers have confirmed there will be a special event in Scotland on April 13, to allow Scottish voices to be heard, and it will be hosted by the RSE.

The event – a panel discussion to be chaired in Edinburgh by Labour peer and Oscar-winning film producer Lord Puttnam – will include McCormick and broadcaster and journalist Stuart Cosgrove, formerly head of programmes for nations and regions at Channel 4.

The RSE also suggested the BBC in Scotland should have more control over the relaying of UK and international news to a Scottish TV audience as part of a "stronger news service" for Scotland.

"On radio, listeners have long had a choice of news programmes, covering international and national issues, edited from Glasgow or London," said the RSE.

"The RSE is of the view that such a choice should exist on television, with the provision of an integrated international and national news service, edited in Scotland. It is long overdue.

"In this context, we welcome the recent creation of Scotland Editor. We will watch with interest the effect that this has on the nature and content of Scotland coverage at UK level."

The Scottish Government has also argued for local control of the licence fee to increase investment and jobs north of the Border.

In a policy paper on charter renewal, it said an autonomous BBC Scotland, with greater control of licence fee revenue, budgets and commissioning, could boost the country’s economy by £60 million a year.