THE UK Culture Secretary is reportedly considering scrapping the licence fee to fund the BBC – and is even said to have considered funding the corporation through taxation.
Lisa Nandy is said to believe the BBC’s current funding model is not “financial sustainable” and wants to find an alternative.
Labour are open to exploring alternatives to the “anachronism” of the licence fee, a flat rate charged to households with a television, The Sunday Times reports.
A Whitehall source told the paper: “Lisa does not believe that the licence fee is financially sustainable.
“But she believes that our national broadcaster should be owned by the nation: the money would go in from taxes but citizens would own it and be involved in decisions about its strategic direction.”
One option said to be on the table is transforming the BBC into a “mutual” organisation where the public are directly in control and own the broadcaster.
She has discussed her proposals with Keir Starmer (above), according to The Sunday Times and the Prime Minister is said to be receptive to bold ideas about overhauling the beleaguered institution.
A source told the paper: “People have been saying for more than a decade now that the licence fee is an anachronism, but then they keep going back to it. Keir is prepared to think more radically.”
The Government may also be unwilling to relinquish the element of control it has over the broadcaster.
Former chancellor George Osborne revealed on his podcast last year: “You think of the BBC as being this big, independent organisation with lots of protection against the government of the day […] but the chancellor can basically boss the BBC around on its finances because the government sets the licence fee in the charter.”
Public support for such a move appears to be limited, with a YouGov poll finding that only 36% of voters favoured abolishing the licence fee and funding the BBC through general taxation while 49% were against.
And moving to a subscription model was also found to split opinion, with 41% in favour while 45% were against.
However there is pushback from the Government on the idea of funding the BBC through tax – which would likely mean rates being increased. A source told The Sunday Times: “Funding the BBC through general taxation is not a realistic possibility, and is not being seriously considered.”
There are also concerns about the prospect of turning the BBC into a mutual organisation, in a similar model to that used to run the National Trust.
One former executive referred to the “Jeremy Corbyn or Nigel Farage problem” which could see a potentially disruptive element elected to the board if it went to a public vote.
And there is also an expectation in some quarters that Nandy’s plans will come to nothing.
A senior BBC source told the paper: “We have been in this world with every secretary of state.
“There’s a nervousness in the BBC about what Nandy may do, but that probably means a few detours before we get back to the licence fee.”
And non-executive director of the BBC board Elan Closs Stephens argued the corporation should stick with the licence fee, saying: “The BBC has done a lot of very thorough work on alternatives to the licence fee. Of all the options, this ‘anachronism’ works. The licence fee keeps us together.
“It is one of those areas of public life where almost everyone pays in and takes out. Lord Grade once said (many years ago) that it was like the royal family — you might not start from here, but now that you have it, you probably wouldn’t change it.”
