Culture Secretary announces licence fee rise
Tory MPs have issued fresh calls for the BBC licence fee to be axed after an announcement it would rise by £10.50 next year.
Speaking in the Commons yesterday, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer confirmed the cost of a TV licence would go up to £169.50 from April 2024.
She also announced a review into the licence fee model, which will look at alternative funding and report next autumn.
Ms Frazer said: “The review will look at how we can ensure the funding model is fair to the public, sustainable for the long term and supports the BBC’s vital role in growing our creative industries.”
The annual charge, which funds much of the Beeb’s operations, was due to increase by nine per cent in line with inflation but a lower figure of 6.7 per cent is being used.
The announcement has led to demands from Conservative MPs for the charge to be scrapped altogether.
Former minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns said: “Licence fee rise! Instead, we should defund the BBC!”
Red Wall MP Jonathan Gullis added: “We need to scrap the telly tax.”
The BBC has already started making £500 million of savings due to a two-year freeze in the licence fee and rising inflation.
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The BBC board said in a statement: “We note that the Government has restored a link to inflation on the licence fee after two years of no increases during a time of high inflation.
“The BBC is focussed on providing great value, as well as programmes and services that audiences love. However, this outcome will still require further changes on top of the major savings that we are already delivering.
“Our content budgets are now impacted, which in turn will have a significant impact on the wider creative sector across the UK.
“We will confirm the consequences of this as we work through our budgets in the coming months.”
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