BBC bites back at Licence Fee freeze
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Joseph O'Halloran
| 18 January 2022
Just as UK culture secretary Nadine Dorries was announcing in the UK parliament her plans to freeze the £159 a year BBC Licence Fee and abolish it by 2027, the BBC has hit back warning that not only does the Licence Fee represent excellent value for money but that a freeze would lead to ‘tougher choices” impacting viewers.
BBC corporate 25March2021
Dorries first revealed the intentions of the UK government on 16 January when she tweeted that the new Licence Fee announcement settle, would be the last and the time had come to discuss and debate new ways of “funding, supporting and selling great British content.” She added that not only would the cost of the Licence Fee be frozen for two years but that it should be abolished completely by 2027.

Among the general furore following the announcement, the BBC’s response emphasised the intrinsic value given the breadth of services it provided. In a joint statement, BBC Chairman Richard Sharp and Director-General Tim Davie acknowledged the challenges of the new settlement but reconciled that the corporation now has the crucial financial stability of the Licence Fee with the certainty of a six-year deal for the funding of the BBC: two years cash flat and four years keeping pace with inflation.

Yet they warned that a freeze in the first two years of this settlement meant that the BBC would now have to absorb inflation. This they said was “disappointing”, not just for Licence Fee payers, but also for the cultural industries that relied on the BBC for the important work they do across the UK. In addition, they noted that the BBC’s income for UK services was already 30% lower in real terms than it was 10 years ago. Warning as to the effect of this, they said; “We will set out the implications of the settlement later, before the end of the financial year, but it will necessitate tougher choices which will impact Licence Fee payers.”