Government breaks silence over axing BBC TV licence for a tax

Government breaks silence over axing BBC TV licence for a tax

The government has issued a new update on calls to scrap the BBC TV licence fee before the annual charge increases to £169.50 in April. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said that the licence fee will remain in place until 2028.

The DCMS also said that the current model “faces challenges and the Government has launched a review to look at ways to ensure BBC’s future funding is fair and sustainable” adding that “in an increasingly competitive media landscape, the number of households holding TV licences is declining and fell by 400,000 last year”.

It continued: “The licence fee model confers on the BBC a unique responsibility to its audiences, which alongside its obligations, creates a singular connection between the BBC and the public. The Government is committed to supporting this connection for years to come.”

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The DCMS added: “It is therefore important that we are proactive in addressing the serious challenges that threaten the legitimacy of the licence fee model, which is why the Government has launched a review of the BBC’s funding model. The review will look at how we can ensure the funding model is fair to licence fee-payers, sustainable for the long term, and supports the BBC’s vital role in growing our creative industries.”

The BBC annual report published last summer revealed that the number of active licences had fallen by 500,000 to 24.4m since last year. A government source told the Times : “The evidence that there is a growing unwillingness to pay is shown by figures each year. The licence fee model is becoming unsustainable.”

The Times reports that the review of BBC funding is expected to examine “all options” for the future of the corporation. A partial subscription model, where some premium content is paid for while the bulk of the corporation’s output remains free to air, is said to be a frontrunner.

The former chair of the BBC Richard Sharp called the licence fee system “regressive” and said that wealthier families may have to pay more to access the corporation’s services, potentially through a tax on broadband bills or a household levy based on property value. A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “We remain committed to reviewing the licence fee model ahead of the next charter period to explore the potential for alternative ways to ensure the BBC remains appropriately funded over the long term