Culture minister Julia Lopez has told the Lords Communications and Digital Committee that the government is “genuinely open-minded” over the future funding of the BBC.
Ms Lopez took a more conciliatory tone than that of her boss Nadine Dorries who earlier this year announced a two-year freeze of the £159 charge ahead of a new funding model that would be introduced before the expiry of the current settlement in 2027.
“The Government is genuinely open-minded about the right model and we are seeking for somebody to surface the choices open to any government about the right way of funding the BBC and we are doing that in advancement of 2027 so that when we look at what we seek the BBC to achieve post-2027 we have a sense of how the best way of funding that will be.”
“There is an open question as to whether it can and maybe Government decides it can’t and while the Secretary of State has made clear her own position having serious concerns about the licence fee, she also said she is open-minded to what the right model is and if the review comes back and suggests that these are the pros and cons of other models and on balance the licence fee is better, I don’t think she would entirely dismiss that.”
Ms Lopez told the committee the government is expecting to appoint an independent reviewer of the BBC funding model ahead of the summer recess.
She explained it was the government’s role to ensure broadcasters remained relevant in the digital age – and that included both the funding of the BBC and the decision to privatise Channel 4.
“I happen to feel proud of being in a Government that has grasped a number of these questions, taken decisions and sought to drive them forward.
“This is not some kind of culture war, I think this is about valuing public service broadcast.”
