Get rid of the television licence fee and let subscribers fund the BBC

SIR – The solution to Lord Hall’s dilemma over whether to give free television licences to the over-75s (Comment, November 21) is straightforward.

The public “owns” the BBC, but is required by law to finance it through the licence fee. Real ownership should be on a voluntary basis, and the BBC should be funded by subscription.

If politicians wish, for electoral benefit, to subsidise the subscription for over-75s, then they should do so honestly, through the welfare system, rather than require the BBC to do it. Kenneth Jones

Groby, Leicestershire

SIR – Lord Hall proposes a number of options to minimise the cost of free television licences.

Would another option be to reduce the eye-watering salaries paid to some BBC “stars”? Anthony Rees

Oxshott, Surrey SIR – Predictably, as it prepares to assume responsibility for TV licences, the BBC fuels the argument as to whether or not pensioners should enjoy free ones.

The same argument applies to bus passes and the winter fuel allowance, but the answer does not need to be a simple “yes” or “no”. We all have a tax code, which is an indicator of our means. Such benefits could easily be restricted to those below a certain code. At the same time age would cease to be a factor. Charles Holden

Micheldever, Hampshire

SIR – The BBC’S energy would be better spent lobbying to change the funding mechanism entirely.

With so much of the BBC’S output now accessed via the internet, surely a digital levy on internet service providers and mobile phone companies would be a better solution. Damien Collis

Trowbridge, Wiltshire SIR – Do younger people watch the BBC? My three Gen-xers prefer to stream Netflix. One watches Match of the Day, but I doubt he considers this to be worth £150. Kev Croot

Coggeshall, Essex

SIR – We octogenarians might be willing to pay a licence fee if there were a better selection of programmes in the evening.

Yesterday we had The Contraceptive

Pill: How Safe Is It? David Smith

Cudworth, Somerset

SIR – As a recipient of a free television licence, I would be happy to pay for it if only I could hear what was going on.

So many programmes these days have too much background noise. Three exceptions are the news, weather reports and Countryfile, but continually watching the first two makes for somewhat monotonous viewing. Wilfred Steer

Bideford, Devon