Wealthier Britons could be forced to pay more towards the TV licence fee to help fund the nation’s public broadcasters in a new proposal suggested by a senior BBC official.
In his first interview since taking the role of BBC chairman last year, Samir Shah questioned the current flat licence fee system.
He appeared to favour a property value-based levy instead of the current £169-a-year fee that applies equally to all households.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Shah said: “Why should people who are poor pay the same as people in wealthy households?”
His comments come as BBC executives are being forced to consider alternative funding models to the existing TV licence fee model.
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The chairman of the BBC has suggested wealthier Britons should more towards the licence fee
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The current system has been described as “regressive” by former BBC chairman Richard Sharp.
Licence fee revenues have plummeted, with the number of households paying the annual levy falling by half a million.
Only 23.9 million households paid the fee in the year to April 2024. This decline has created a growing funding gap for the corporation.
While Shah stopped short of fully endorsing a household levy, he highlighted its benefits. He claimed it “gets rid of the enforcement issue” which has become “a problem”.
The BBC has ramped up enforcement, sending 41 million letters to British households between 2023 and 2024.
Unlike the licence fee, a household levy could be collected with council tax.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy was reported in September to be considering funding the BBC via general taxation in lieu of the licence fee system.
She was also said to be exploring the possibility of mutualising the broadcaster. In the interview, Shah also said the BBC needs “more variety” and “diversity of thought”.
He highlighted the need for better representation of the “northern working class” and emphasised that this demographic is where the BBC is “poor” in terms of representation. “That’s where the focus should be,” he stated.
On claims of liberal bias, Shah said: “The media recruits graduates from the arts, humanities, and they tend to be metropolitan and to have a point of view you could describe as Liberal Centre, Centre Left.”
“We kind of reflect that,” he acknowledged. The corporation has faced backlash over its coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
A recent BBC documentary about Gaza featured the son of a senior Hamas figure with pro-Israel protesters gathered outside Broadcasting House last Thursday.
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Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has hinted at reform to the BBC licence fee
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Protesters claimed the BBC had aired Hamas propaganda.
Shah acknowledged these challenges as part of the broader discussion about the corporation’s editorial decisions.
“We make mistakes in our journalism. We correct mistakes”, he said regarding the controversies.
The chairman added: “There needs to be greater accountability. People have to face the consequences of what they do.”
