Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of allowing advertising on BBC platforms on the licence fee settlement.

The Government’s aim is to support a sustainable and fair funding model for the BBC, and we are considering a broad range of options to deliver this at Charter Review.

A thriving media sector is vital for the UK. We acknowledge that the BBC carrying advertising would represent a significant shift and have impacts on the wider media sector, including the other Public Service Broadcasters and local media providers, as well as on audience experiences.

The Government is seeking further views and evidence about the potential impacts of the BBC carrying adverts on the market, on audience engagement and on willingness to pay the licence fee before making any final decisions, including through the public consultation on the Charter Review Green Paper and through evidence from stakeholders and the BBC. This will build on modelling the department commissioned under the previous government on the BBC’s potential to generate commercial revenue from advertising.