Further cuts to BBC Scotland could "fundamentally undermine" the organisation's funding model, a trade union leader has warned.

It comes after the corporation announced it would axe its Scotland linear TV station and about 70 jobs north of the border as part of cost-saving measures.

National Union of Journalists (NUJ) organiser Nick McGowan-Lowe told MSPs that if additional cuts were made, people in Scotland would question why they pay the licence fee.

A BBC spokesperson said it faced "significant financial challenges" and would focus resources "where they will have the greatest impact for audiences".

The BBC announced last month that it would close the BBC Scotland TV station, launched in 2019, as part of £500m cost-cutting measures. Its nightly news show - News at Seven - would also close.

The channel, minus the News at Seven, will move online to BBC iPlayer in the spring.

The change is expected to result in about 10 posts being cut, in addition to the 60 BBC Scotland announced earlier this year.

Ahead of a Holyrood debate about the BBC, union leaders gave their views to the parliament's culture committee.

McGowan-Lowe, national organiser for Scotland at the NUJ, said he had "significant concerns" about BBC cuts.

The trade union leader suggested that if there was another round of similar cuts, it would lead to Scots "reviewing why are we paying our licence fee".

He added: "I feel that the further cuts down the line, if they are on the same scale as the BBC Scotland channel [decision] ... it would fundamentally undermine the BBC's funding model and relationship with viewers in Scotland."

McGowan-Lowe told the committee it was "inexplicable" that the BBC Scotland channel could be moved online without approval from the industry regulator Ofcom.

He highlighted that BBC Scotland was used by 80% of adults at least once a week on average last year.

However, McGowan-Lowe told MSPs that a "funding crisis" could be traced back for more than a decade.

He said: "It is a funding problem, not an audience problem, because the BBC and public broadcasters do a very, very good job."

Paul McManus, negotiations officer for Scotland at Bectu, told the committee: "The fundamental problem is the licence fee is not keeping up with what's needed to deliver top quality public service broadcasting."

He added that there was a "huge question mark" against whether creative industry jobs can be sustained in Scotland as cuts are made.

Prof Catherine Happer, who specialises in media sociology at the University of Glasgow, said that the Scottish audience had been left with "an even worse settlement than the pre-2019 settlement that the [BBC Scotland] channel was designed to respond to".

She added: "This really has real impacts of the political and cultural literacies of Scotland."

Cristina Nicolotti Squires, broadcasting and media group director at Ofcom, highlighted that so far the BBC had only set out how it intended to save about £200m of the £500m target.

A BBC spokesperson said BBC Scotland was making "proportionate savings" across all departments and it was holding consultations with trade unions and staff.

They added: "Against the backdrop of these significant financial challenges, our priority is to focus resources on where they will have the greatest impact for audiences."

While the BBC remains a highly trusted news provider, it is facing budgetary pressures, a struggle to grow audiences and increased competition from tech and entertainment giants.

As part of the overall cost-cutting measures, the BBC said earlier this year that it would cut between 1,800 and 2,000 jobs over the next two years.

The broadcaster, which has about 21,500 full time employees, gets most of its income from the licence fee, currently set at £180 a year. It also generates income through grants, royalties and rental income.

However, the number of TV licences has declined in recent years. In 2025-26, it fell to 23.3 million, down by 540,000 on the previous year.

The BBC's annual report said this was "predominantly driven by a decline in households requiring a TV licence due to not consuming licensable content".

An estimated £311m was raised through licence fees in Scotland last year, a real-terms decrease on 2024-25.

The BBC has also announced the closure of Radio 4 Extra and BBC Three.

Director-general Matt Brittin said: "We need to make every pound work harder for audiences as we respond to the immediate cost pressures and reinvent the BBC for a changing world. We all know that means tough choices."

Discussing the closure of linear broadcast services, he added: "Much of the great content they currently carry will still be found where audiences already enjoy them on iPlayer and Sounds."