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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to prevent subscription-based streaming services from being brought within the scope of the TV licence fee.

A TV licence is currently required to watch live TV, and to watch or download any BBC programme on iPlayer. Households are therefore already required to hold a TV licence to watch live TV on a subscription-based streaming service.

The Government launched the BBC Charter Review last year. As part of the BBC Charter Review, we are looking at a range of options to support the BBC with sustainable and fair funding, including how the BBC can operate more efficiently, generate more commercial revenue, and how the licence fee could be reformed including the scope of services for which a TV licence is required.

The Government is now considering responses to the public consultation, and these will inform policy decisions for the next BBC Royal Charter. These will be set out in a White Paper, expected to be published later this year.