Tory MPs have called for the licence fee to be axed after a £10.50 hike was announced.
The cost of a TV licence, set by the Government, will go up to £169.50 from next year. But Conservative MPs urged for the annual fee, which funds the majority of the BBC‘s operations, 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.”
Independent MP Scott Benton said: “They really don’t get it do they? Sticking the licence fee up by over a tenner when many families are still struggling is a slap in the face to them…and all to pay the wages of ‘talent’ like Gary Lineker. Time for the licence fee to go!”
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The licence fee had been frozen at £159 for the last two years and was set to rise in April 2024 in line with the average rate of inflation over the past 12 months.
However, the expected 9 percent increase, which would have meant a jump of around £15, has been reduced.
Speaking in the Commons today, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said the rise will instead be based on September’s consumer prices index (CPI) rate of inflation which was 6.7 percent.
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 BBC has already started making £500 million of savings following the two-year licence fee freeze and rising inflation.
Shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire said the reduction in an increase in the fee will make “no material difference” to those struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
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.”
