Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is reportedly in favour of abolishing the TV Licence and has even considered moving the funding of the BBC into general taxation.
The Sunday Times reported Lisa Nandy wants to turn the BBC into a mutual organisation to give direct control and ownership to the public. She believes such a pathway would “future-proof” the BBC and protect it from the possibility of a future government reducing its budget.
While moving the £169.50 a year fee to general taxation would remove the possibility of vulnerable people being prosecuted for the non-payment of the fee, the Labour government is unlikely to want to do anything that further increases the tax burden.
Currently 80% of households pay the fee – 3.5% receive a free licence, but evasion now stands at more than 10%.
Last November, Lisa Nandy confirmed she would not proceed with the review of the BBC’s funding model as established by the previous government, which had appointed a panel of experts. Instead the funding review would form part of the review of the BBC’s Royal Charter.
