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.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “The government and BBC agreed a six-year licence fee settlement in January 2022, which froze the licence fee for two years with increases in line with inflation from 2024.
“As is usual practice the government sets and confirms the cost of a licence each year and this remains unconfirmed for 2024/25.
“The BBC will continue to focus on what it does best: working to deliver world-class content and providing great value for all audiences.”
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
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Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
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