10 July 2023 , 10:33
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The price of the BBC Licence fee "could be cut in real terms" to help ease the cost of living pressures on households, it has been reported.
Usually, the price of the licence fee rises with inflation and it currently costs £159 for the year.
Last year, former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced the fee would be frozen for two years, before rising in 2024.
This means Brits could face a near double digit if the rise is to go ahead - inflation currently sits at 8.7%.
However, ministers are said to be looking at removing the link between the fee and the inflation figure, reports the Daily Mail.
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A source told the Mail: "Ministers realise a near 10% rise is not exactly going to go down well, so they are looking at moving from the standard annualised inflation figure to a different, lower measure."
The exact rise in the price of a licence fee is not yet concrete but it would most likely be calculated by using the annualised inflation rate between October 2022 and September 2023.
A projected rise of 8.2% would increase the price of a yearly licence fee by £13 - taking it from £159 to £172.
Last week, former chair of the BBC Richard Sharpe suggested that wealthier households should pay more for access to BBC services.
The former BBC boss told the Daily Telegraph’s Chopper’s Politics podcast that the “regressive” licence fee system could be replaced by a tax on broadband bills or a household levy based on property value.
He said: "You can look at models around the world, there’s a broadband tax, there’s a household tax, and there’s the licence fee.
"Change is disruptive from moving from one mechanism that works to another.”
Labour announced earlier this year it would carry out a review of the BBC’s operations, including how its chair and board are appointed, and means testing the fee.
The Government are already considering options of replacing the licence fee with a different funding model after 2027 when its charter runs out.
A BBC spokesman told the Mirror: "We expect the Government to calculate the licence fee rise in the autumn, in the normal way set out in the BBC Charter. Anything before then is speculation."
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