TV LICENCES FACING AXE IN 7 YEARS
Culture Secretary tells BBC ‘move with times’ to compete with rivals
TV LICENCES could be scrapped within seven years, the Cabinet’s media chief signalled yesterday.
Nicky Morgan said the BBC must “move with the times” or face extinction with the rise of digital rivals like Netflix and Amazon. In a
speech to a Westminster think tank, the Culture Secretary said the Government was “open-minded” on the future of the £157.50-a-year fee, which funds the BBC.
But she denied Tories wanted to “attack” the corporation.
Yesterday’s event, hosted by the Policy Exchange, launched a consultation into decriminalising non-payment of the fee – meaning evaders would not face criminal prosecution.
If approved, the change could happen from 2022.
Baroness Morgan said the licence fee would remain until the end of December 2027, when the current BBC charter ends.
But she warned: “We must all be open-minded about the future of the licence fee beyond this point.”
She said there was a “longer debate” about it amid the arrival of streaming giants such as Netflix.
Broadcasting had “changed beyond all recognition” since the TV licence fee was introduced in 1946 and Baroness Morgan warned the pace of change was “only going to get faster”.
She said: “Public service broadcasting is too important to allow it to become a relic like [defunct video rental chain] Blockbuster.”
In a question-and-answer session after her speech, ex-BBC chief Baron Birt said the Government was trying to attack a “peerless, but never perfect, institution”.
But Baroness Morgan said: “Anybody who’s been campaigning in recent years, standing on doorsteps, will know there is more and more talk about, ‘Why do I pay the licence fee, what do I get for it?’.”
She said broadcasting industry changes and viewing habits of young people “should be an eye-opener for the BBC”.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “The BBC tried to set up a Netflix service a decade ago while they were still sending DVDs in the post, but was prevented by regulators. “There is a danger that politicians catastrophise the situation. The BBC is the most-used media organisation in the UK.
“It reaches the most people. It’s used for the most time. You wouldn’t think that from some of the things being said today.” Under the consultation, people will be asked whether criminal sanctions for non-payment of the licence fee should be replaced by an alternative scheme.
From June, free TV licences for all over-75s will be restricted to those on pension credit. Baroness Morgan also announced a flexible payment scheme to allow vulnerable people, including those over 75, to split the bill into instalments.
But it angered those opposed to the ending the benefit.
Caroline Abrahams, of Age UK, said: “The vast majority of older people are model citizens.
“One of our biggest worries is that some of the most vulnerable will inadvertently break the law, for example due to chronic ill health, because they will be unable to comply with any new charging regime put in place.
“In our view it is disgraceful to expose very old people to even the risk of this happening.”
In 2018, more than 121,000 people were convicted of licence fee evasion and fined an average of £176.
There were about 26 million active TV licences in the UK last year, generating an income of £3.69billion for the BBC.
THE days of anyone with a television set being forced to pay the BBC licence fee could be nearing an end. Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan sent shockwaves through the broadcaster yesterday when she said she was “open-minded” about the future of the fee.
There is fury that from June over-75s will no longer qualify for a free licence if they do not claim pension credit.
The fee will go up to £157.50 from April 1. Though the corporation’s highest paid celebrities might struggle to believe it, many people throughout the country will find this a huge amount to pay.
As Age UK put it, for some pensioners “the sum is simply unaffordable”.
The fee is unlikely to be scrapped before the present BBC charter runs out in 2027 but Baroness Morgan has launched a consultation on decriminalising non-payment.
This charge has long been lambasted as an unfair tax because people have to pay the same amount, regardless of whether they are on minimum wage or a millionaire.
It would be outrageous if you faced prosecution if you refused to pay a Netflix subscription. So, critics will increasingly argue, why should people who have no intention of consuming BBC content be forced to pay into its coffers?
A recent Ofcom report found fewer than half (49 per cent) of young people aged 16 to 24 tuned into BBC television channels each week. The broadcaster cannot afford to take the love of audiences for granted. It must prove its worth to the nation.