BBC licence fee: Minister ‘concerned’ planned rise is ‘very high’ amid reports it could be scrapped
The culture secretary has said she is concerned the planned 9% rise in the BBC licence fee is “very high” and that the BBC must remain “value for money”.
Lucy Frazer said the government wanted to ensure the licence fee rises by an “appropriate amount” amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.
The licence fee is currently £159 per year but is due to increase by 9% or £15 to £173.30 in April.
Asked by Sky News’s Kay Burley whether the planned rise would not happen due to the government’s concerns, Ms Frazer replied: “I’m concerned that that’s a very high level.
“It’s a decision that I’m looking at the moment and we’ll be making an announcement on this very shortly.”
Pressed again on whether the rise would not go ahead, Ms Frazer replied: “Well, I’m concerned about that level of rise. So it’s something that we’re looking at very carefully.”
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer
Ms Frazer said that although she believed the BBC provided a “fantastic service” and was an “amazing tool for soft power”, the “media landscape is changing” and the licence fee must be “fair to people”.
She said 400,000 people did not renew their licence fees last year and that’s why she was also “doing a broader review on the licence fee in the round and how we should fund the BBC”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters over the weekend that the BBC should be “realistic about what it can expect people to pay at a time like this”.
“I think it is welcome that the BBC are looking at making savings and efficiencies in how they operate,” he said.
“It’s really important that when things are difficult everyone is doing what they can to ease the cost of living on families.
“That’s certainly what I have done over the last year and made a bunch of decisions that haven’t been easy, but that’s helped to bring inflation down to ease the burden and the cost of living.
“The BBC like any other organisation that serves the public should be looking to do that and cut its cloth appropriately so I think that is very welcome.”
He added: “Final decisions haven’t been taken obviously – but the BBC should be realistic about what it can expect people to pay at a time like this.”
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The government is currently looking at whether to replace the £159-a-year licence fee with a new funding model after 2027, when the BBC’s current Royal Charter ends.
The licence fee is due to start rising again with inflation from April after a two-year freeze.
Non-payment of the licence fee is a crime and is enforced by door-stepping inspectors.
Almost 1,000 people a week – seven out of 10 of whom are women – are prosecuted for evasion.
Asked whether pensioners should be “locked up if they don’t pay their licence fee”, Ms Frazer said: “I’m not in favour of criminalisation and it’s one of the things that we will be looking at in the charter review.”
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Politics
Starmer was aware of the risks of appointing the ‘Prince of Darkness’ as his man in Washington – to an extent
It was a prescient and – as it turned out – incredibly optimistic sign off from Peter Mandelson after eight years as Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University.
“I hope I survive in my next job for at least half that period”, the Financial Times reported him as saying – with a smile.
As something of a serial sackee from government posts, we know Sir Keir Starmer was, to an extent, aware of the risks of appointing the ‘Prince of Darkness’ as his man in Washington.
But in his first interview since he gave the ambassador his marching orders, the prime minister said if he had “known then what I know now” then he would not have given him the job.
For many Labour MPs, this will do little to answer questions about the slips in political judgement that led Downing Street down this disastrous alleyway.
Like the rest of the world, Sir Keir Starmer did know of Lord Mandelson’s friendship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when he sent him to Washington.
The business secretary spelt out the reasoning for that over the weekend saying that the government judged it “worth the risk”.
Keir Starmer welcomes Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte to Downing Street.
Pic: PA
This is somewhat problematic.
As you now have a government which – after being elected on the promise to restore high standards – appears to be admitting that previous indiscretions can be overlooked if the cause is important enough.
Package that up with other scandals that have resulted in departures – Louise Haigh, Tulip Siddiq, Angela Rayner – and you start to get a stink that becomes hard to shift.
But more than that, the events of the last week again demonstrate an apparent lack of ability in government to see round corners and deal with crises before they start knocking lumps out of the Prime Minister.
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‘Had I known then, what I know now, I’d have never appointed him’ Starmer said.
Remember, for many the cardinal sin here was not necessarily the original appointment of Mandelson (while eyebrows were raised at the time, there was nowhere near the scale of outrage we’ve had in the last week with many career diplomats even agreeing the with logic of the choice) but the fact that Sir Keir walked into PMQs and gave the ambassador his full throated backing when it was becoming clear to many around Westminster that he simply wouldn’t be able to stay in post.
The explanation from Downing Street is essentially that a process was playing out, and you shouldn’t sack an ambassador based on a media enquiry alone.
But good process doesn’t always align with good politics.
Something this barrister-turned-politician may now be finding out the hard way.
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