“Some viewers could pay more to watch the BBC under moves to scrap the licence fee and replace the charge with a “fairer” system.
Culture minister Julia Lopez said a government review tasked with producing a replacement for the £159 charge could recommend a new household “TV tax”, which asked wealthier people to pay more.
Mooted alternatives to the licence fee include imposing a broadband levy or linking the charge to council tax, with those in higher bands paying a bigger monthly fee.
The replacement could be means-tested, with those on benefits paying less.
Ms Lopez told the Lords Communications and Digital Committee that one reason her boss Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries objected to the licence fee was that it was “regressive, in that you pay the same in all circumstances”.
Asked whether viewers would object to paying a new “TV tax”, Ms Lopez said the Government would have to be cautious about imposing a new tapered charge, which would create winners and losers.
“We’re all politicians – who wants to introduce a new tax?” she asked. “If you do remove the licence fee, you would have to look with seriousness and candour at an alternative. That may include some kind of tax or levy.”
The Government was “genuinely open-minded” about the future of the BBC funding model despite the Secretary of State’s “serious concerns” about the licence fee, Ms Lopez insisted.
An independent figure will be appointed in July and given a year to come up with an alternative model. That would allow the BBC time to adapt to a funding change before its new Royal Charter is agreed in 2027.
The review will examine options for funding the BBC, including a voluntary Netflix-style subscription model and allowing advertising on some services. It could recommend a hybrid model combining different solutions. But “fairness” will be at the heart of the new mechanism, ministers pledged.
Ms Lopez said she hoped the corporation itself would propose a workable solution. BBC board members have privately discussed alternatives including a “television tax” that can be linked to household income. The BBC could also be supported by a Treasury-funded government grant.
Ms Dorries has said the current model is “completely outdated.” However if the review found that “on balance the licence fee is better, I don’t think she (Ms Dorries) would entirely dismiss that,” Ms Lopez said.
The minister pointed out that other countries were abandoning a mandatory charge paid by those who watch TV.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron pledged to scrap France’s TV licence fee in a change estimated to apply to around 23 million households, saving them €138 (£117) a year, during his successful election campaign this year.
Ms Lopez said officials at the DCMS would be in touch with their French counterparts, although a promised replacement for funding French public service broadcasting has yet to be announced.
Ministers insist licence fee reform is not an attack on the BBC, which they want to remain “relevant” and thrive – albeit without “crowding out” commercial competitors in areas such as digital news provision.
Ms Lopez cited other objections to the status quo. The licence fee is “enforced through criminal sanctions and this is something the Secretary of State has particularly exercised about because she is concerned about conviction rates, in particular for women.”
“It is also quite expensive to administer, which is an issue that has been raised by some other panellists and from the peak of 2017/2018 when there was about 26 million people paying the licence fee it has dropped by around 700,000 over this, so any model has to seek to try and overcome some of the shortcomings of the existing model.”
The BBC was warned not to go too far in closing down traditional TV and radio channels and moving services to online-only platforms.
Ms Lopez said some viewers still did not have access to high-quality broadband connections and depriving them of “core services” would strike at the BBC’s “sense of legitimacy.”
The BBC said it will close the BBC Four, CBBC and Radio 4 Extra scheduled channels and move those services to the iPlayer over the next few years.
The BBC said it was required to find up to £285m of savings, due to a two-year freeze in the level of the licence fee imposed by Ms Dorries this year.”
I hope they’re not planning on taxing people who don’t watch live tv but happen to have one for other things e.g. as a computer monitor/netflix
I have two words for the BBC.
The first one is not open to negotiation, but they have a choice of “off” or “you” for the second one.
Most countries have moved away from TV licenses to taxation, the government will just copy some model off another country. The BBC isn’t going anywhere because even Nadine understands national broadcasters are too useful when it comes to spreading government propaganda.
JUST DO ADVERTS…. Like every other fucking channel and stop looking for new ways to dip into our pockets.. Thanks and have a great day.
They need a PAYG type system, I only watch live TV when there are things like the World Cup, Olympics etc on. I don’t want to pay for a full year just for those events.
> Mooted alternatives to the licence fee include imposing a broadband levy or linking the charge to council tax, with those in higher bands paying a bigger monthly fee.
These are literally alternatives no one is advocating for, ad funded or subscription based.
Can’t believe there are cucks who pay it still.
Fuck it. Just make us all pay for the BBC whether we want to or not. BBC is just waiting for the chance to get it’s own tax. The TV license is outdated, ran by thugs and pretty much a tax in all but name. Just fuck it, make us pay for it because the government already hates all of us so why not inflict further misery upon us by knowing that we are funding shite like Mrs Brown’s boys.
​
How the fuck did that even get a movie!?
Simple solution. 0.0X% of government revenue from 5 years ago is the BBC budget for the year.
Problem solved. BBC know how much they are getting 4 years in advance. Government can’t play politics with it. BBC budget remains proportional to size of the economy.
BBC is a public service, everyone should pay for it.
Television used to be called the idiot box. Just end the BBC and encourage people to have more fulfilling hobbies.
NGL I like the current system purely because it means I don’t need to give the BBC money.
This is the Tories they will aim to make it as unfair as possible. It will be a tax based on screens, so Tv’s laptops, tablets or PCs possibly even smart phones as well. Don’t ever watch BBC, doesn’t matter, you have 5 screens in your house tax them all.
They will probably make pensioners exempt, because more likely to vote Tory.
Surely the only two options are the current system and a streaming subscription service?
Replacing one BBC tax with another doesn’t solve the problem of having a BBC tax in the first place.
i will go to prison before i pay a penny.
Get Nadine Dorries to pay it whether or not she actually watches any TV…
If the government wants more cash they should take it out of the profits the TV/Media company’s earn, not from the people who already pay for a TV what gives said company’s a profit.
I know this will just put up the costs of TVs in the long run as the company won’t want to loose profits but least the poorest of people can hopefully get one TV what lasts a long time.
Just feels like the GOV taking from the wrong people again and helping rich company’s make more profit.
Make it a subscription model you can opt out of paying without TV License bailiffs threatening to shake you up at your doorstep.
Just like EVERY OTHER F***ING TV CONTENT PRODUCER.
I refuse to subsidise Tory propaganda for other people.
I want my TV budget to go towards streaming services I actually watch, who are making new content aimed at Millenials like me.
I do not want to be forced to subsidise endless shows about baking and housing auctions aimed at posh twats, just because some politicos feel it’s got some special cultural significance to them.
18 comments
“Some viewers could pay more to watch the BBC under moves to scrap the licence fee and replace the charge with a “fairer” system.
Culture minister Julia Lopez said a government review tasked with producing a replacement for the £159 charge could recommend a new household “TV tax”, which asked wealthier people to pay more.
Mooted alternatives to the licence fee include imposing a broadband levy or linking the charge to council tax, with those in higher bands paying a bigger monthly fee.
The replacement could be means-tested, with those on benefits paying less.
Ms Lopez told the Lords Communications and Digital Committee that one reason her boss Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries objected to the licence fee was that it was “regressive, in that you pay the same in all circumstances”.
Asked whether viewers would object to paying a new “TV tax”, Ms Lopez said the Government would have to be cautious about imposing a new tapered charge, which would create winners and losers.
“We’re all politicians – who wants to introduce a new tax?” she asked. “If you do remove the licence fee, you would have to look with seriousness and candour at an alternative. That may include some kind of tax or levy.”
The Government was “genuinely open-minded” about the future of the BBC funding model despite the Secretary of State’s “serious concerns” about the licence fee, Ms Lopez insisted.
An independent figure will be appointed in July and given a year to come up with an alternative model. That would allow the BBC time to adapt to a funding change before its new Royal Charter is agreed in 2027.
The review will examine options for funding the BBC, including a voluntary Netflix-style subscription model and allowing advertising on some services. It could recommend a hybrid model combining different solutions. But “fairness” will be at the heart of the new mechanism, ministers pledged.
Ms Lopez said she hoped the corporation itself would propose a workable solution. BBC board members have privately discussed alternatives including a “television tax” that can be linked to household income. The BBC could also be supported by a Treasury-funded government grant.
Ms Dorries has said the current model is “completely outdated.” However if the review found that “on balance the licence fee is better, I don’t think she (Ms Dorries) would entirely dismiss that,” Ms Lopez said.
The minister pointed out that other countries were abandoning a mandatory charge paid by those who watch TV.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron pledged to scrap France’s TV licence fee in a change estimated to apply to around 23 million households, saving them €138 (£117) a year, during his successful election campaign this year.
Ms Lopez said officials at the DCMS would be in touch with their French counterparts, although a promised replacement for funding French public service broadcasting has yet to be announced.
Ministers insist licence fee reform is not an attack on the BBC, which they want to remain “relevant” and thrive – albeit without “crowding out” commercial competitors in areas such as digital news provision.
Ms Lopez cited other objections to the status quo. The licence fee is “enforced through criminal sanctions and this is something the Secretary of State has particularly exercised about because she is concerned about conviction rates, in particular for women.”
“It is also quite expensive to administer, which is an issue that has been raised by some other panellists and from the peak of 2017/2018 when there was about 26 million people paying the licence fee it has dropped by around 700,000 over this, so any model has to seek to try and overcome some of the shortcomings of the existing model.”
The BBC was warned not to go too far in closing down traditional TV and radio channels and moving services to online-only platforms.
Ms Lopez said some viewers still did not have access to high-quality broadband connections and depriving them of “core services” would strike at the BBC’s “sense of legitimacy.”
The BBC said it will close the BBC Four, CBBC and Radio 4 Extra scheduled channels and move those services to the iPlayer over the next few years.
The BBC said it was required to find up to £285m of savings, due to a two-year freeze in the level of the licence fee imposed by Ms Dorries this year.”
I hope they’re not planning on taxing people who don’t watch live tv but happen to have one for other things e.g. as a computer monitor/netflix
I have two words for the BBC.
The first one is not open to negotiation, but they have a choice of “off” or “you” for the second one.
Most countries have moved away from TV licenses to taxation, the government will just copy some model off another country. The BBC isn’t going anywhere because even Nadine understands national broadcasters are too useful when it comes to spreading government propaganda.
JUST DO ADVERTS…. Like every other fucking channel and stop looking for new ways to dip into our pockets.. Thanks and have a great day.
They need a PAYG type system, I only watch live TV when there are things like the World Cup, Olympics etc on. I don’t want to pay for a full year just for those events.
> Mooted alternatives to the licence fee include imposing a broadband levy or linking the charge to council tax, with those in higher bands paying a bigger monthly fee.
These are literally alternatives no one is advocating for, ad funded or subscription based.
Can’t believe there are cucks who pay it still.
Fuck it. Just make us all pay for the BBC whether we want to or not. BBC is just waiting for the chance to get it’s own tax. The TV license is outdated, ran by thugs and pretty much a tax in all but name. Just fuck it, make us pay for it because the government already hates all of us so why not inflict further misery upon us by knowing that we are funding shite like Mrs Brown’s boys.
​
How the fuck did that even get a movie!?
Simple solution. 0.0X% of government revenue from 5 years ago is the BBC budget for the year.
Problem solved. BBC know how much they are getting 4 years in advance. Government can’t play politics with it. BBC budget remains proportional to size of the economy.
BBC is a public service, everyone should pay for it.
Television used to be called the idiot box. Just end the BBC and encourage people to have more fulfilling hobbies.
NGL I like the current system purely because it means I don’t need to give the BBC money.
This is the Tories they will aim to make it as unfair as possible. It will be a tax based on screens, so Tv’s laptops, tablets or PCs possibly even smart phones as well. Don’t ever watch BBC, doesn’t matter, you have 5 screens in your house tax them all.
They will probably make pensioners exempt, because more likely to vote Tory.
Surely the only two options are the current system and a streaming subscription service?
Replacing one BBC tax with another doesn’t solve the problem of having a BBC tax in the first place.
i will go to prison before i pay a penny.
Get Nadine Dorries to pay it whether or not she actually watches any TV…
If the government wants more cash they should take it out of the profits the TV/Media company’s earn, not from the people who already pay for a TV what gives said company’s a profit.
I know this will just put up the costs of TVs in the long run as the company won’t want to loose profits but least the poorest of people can hopefully get one TV what lasts a long time.
Just feels like the GOV taking from the wrong people again and helping rich company’s make more profit.
Make it a subscription model you can opt out of paying without TV License bailiffs threatening to shake you up at your doorstep.
Just like EVERY OTHER F***ING TV CONTENT PRODUCER.
I refuse to subsidise Tory propaganda for other people.
I want my TV budget to go towards streaming services I actually watch, who are making new content aimed at Millenials like me.
I do not want to be forced to subsidise endless shows about baking and housing auctions aimed at posh twats, just because some politicos feel it’s got some special cultural significance to them.