UK govt freezes BBC licence fee for 2 years

LONDON: The BBC licence fee will be frozen for the next two years and will rise in line with inflation for the four years after that, according to British Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries.

Dorries said the BBC wanted the fee to rise to over £180 ($245) by the end of this settlement. Instead, it will remain fixed at £159 until April 1, 2024.

“The global cost of living is rising and this government is committed to supporting families as much as possible during these difficult times,” she said in a statement issued on Monday.

“We simply could not justify putting extra pressure on the wallets of hard-working households,” she added.

The British government will more than double the borrowing limit of the BBC’s commercial arm to £750 million to support it, Dorries said.

The culture secretary also urged the BBC to address issues around impartiality and groupthink, urging the BBC leadership to put their words into action.

“A freeze in the first two years of this settlement means the BBC will now have to absorb inflation. That is disappointing,” BBC chairman Richard Sharp and director general Tim Davie said in a statement.