BBC licence fee to rise by £5 next year
The BBC licence fee will rise by £5 as Labour pledges to increase payments in line with inflation.
The annual cost for a colour TV licence from April next year will be £174.50, an extra 42p a month, after the last £10.50 rise brought it to £169.50 in April.
The annual fee, which faced years of scrutiny under the Conservatives, was set at £159 for two years before it was increased at a lower rate than the corporation expected.
On Friday, Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, announced that the licence fee will again go up in line with inflation until 2027. She has said she wants to support the BBC and provide financial stability, while announcing that the future funding model of the corporation would be reviewed.
She has previously suggested that a new funding model may be a “mutual” arrangement, wherein fee-payers would become direct stakeholders in the BBC and therefore could hold its board to account.
Ms Nandy said: “Through the charter review, we will have an honest national conversation about the broadcaster’s long-term future, ensuring the BBC has a sustainable public funding model that supports its vital work but is also fair and responsive to those who pay for it.
“In the short term, we are providing the BBC with funding certainty, while supporting thousands more households facing financial hardship to spread the cost of a TV licence.”
The Government will use a review of the BBC’s Royal Charter, which will include a public consultation, to consider funding options to support the broadcaster’s long-term future.
To help households struggling with financial pressures, the Government set up the Simple Payment Plan, which it will be expanding.
It said the expansion would allow an estimated additional 9,000 unlicensed households experiencing financial difficulty per month to split up the annual payment into more manageable fortnightly and monthly instalments.
Ms Nandy’s announcement comes after severe cost-cutting at the BBC. Last month, it revealed planned changes, including the axing of the interview show HardTalk, as it looks at reducing more than 100 news roles.