THE BBC licence fee will rise from £159 to £169.50 next year, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has told MPs.
Bosses hoped to hike the £159 levy by nearly £15 — but ministers pressed them to settle in line with September’s 6.7 per cent inflation rate.
The TV licence fee will rise by more than £10
PM Rishi Sunak previously told MPs the BBC must be “realistic” to help hard-up households.
The announcement comes as Ms Frazer has launched a review into how the BBC should be funded in the future, as new action is taken to reduce the impact of price rises on licence fee payers.
The review, supported by a panel of independent experts soon to be announced from across the broadcasting sector and wider business world, will assess a range of options for funding the BBC.
It will look at how alternative models could help secure the broadcaster’s long-term sustainability amid an evolving media landscape, increased competition and changing audience behaviour, while reducing the burden on licence fee payers.
The licence fee will also rise by less than previously expected next year following changes brought in by the government to minimise the cost to households.
In 2022, the government froze the licence fee for two years to protect families from the sharp rise in the cost of living.
It was agreed that the current annual fee of £159 would remain unchanged until April 2024, before rising by inflation for the following four years.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said: “This is a fair deal that provides value for money for the licence fee payer while also ensuring that the BBC can continue to produce world leading content.
“We know family budgets are stretched, which is why we have stepped in again – following two years of licence fee freezes – to reduce this year’s increase to less than a £1 a month.
“But this settlement has highlighted other challenges faced by the BBC with the changing media landscape making the battle for audiences more competitive and the number of people paying the licence fee decreasing.
“This raises fundamental questions as to sustainability of the current licence fee system.
“So we are also launching a funding review of the BBC that will take a forensic look at the licence fee, and whether a reformed funding model could better support our national broadcaster to remain sustainable and affordable for audiences while driving growth in our creative industries.
“I want a thriving BBC, supported to inform, educate and entertain and this funding review will help us make sure we can deliver this for decades to come.”
Earlier this year, the government handed over an extra £20m to the BBC World Service as part of the refresh of the Integrated Review.
The money, which is on top of £94m provided annually, was to protect all 42 World Service language services over the next two years, support English-language broadcasting, and counter disinformation.
ReutersCulture Secretary Lucy Frazer has launched a review into how the BBC should be funded in the future[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
