Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell has said an incoming Labour Government could reform the TV licence fee so that wealthier households pay more. But do you think it should be means-tested? Vote in our poll.
Ms Powell said Labour is “very firm” in its commitment to having a “universally funded, publicly owned model” in the long term and has not ruled out variable fees dependent on household income.
She told inews.co.uk: “The licence fee might not be the model you’d start with that everybody pays the same whether you’re rich or poor. But I think the core principle of everybody contributing and it being a universal service that everybody contributes is absolutely right.”
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The annual £159 fee has been frozen for two years, until 2024, and is due to rise in line with inflation in the following four years. The BBC’s current funding arrangement ends on December 31, 2027, with an alternative needed in the middle of the next parliamentary term.
BBC chairman Richard Sharp spoke about the future of the licence fee during a House of Lords committee session in May. He said: “The board hasn’t ruled out anything. We are taking a blank sheet of paper. We’ve been charged with the fact that the BBC faces an existential question and the board has to take that very seriously and to look at all options without preconceptions.”
So what do YOU think? Should the TV licence fee be means-tested? Vote in our poll and leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
