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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Terms of Reference for the BBC Funding Review Panel allow the Panel to consider all the funding options contained in the 6th report of the DCMS Select Committee of session 2019-21, and in the annex to that report.

The Terms of Reference for the BBC Funding Model Review set out that the Government wants the BBC to continue to succeed as a Public Service Broadcaster long into the future, providing high quality public service content on a universal basis.

As the Terms of Reference make clear, the review will be looking at a range of models for funding the BBC to ensure it is fair to licence fee payers, sustainable for the long term and supports the BBC’s vital role in growing the creative industries. This will include looking at options to reform the licence fee, and how the BBC can increase its commercial revenues. Given pressure on household incomes, the Secretary of State has explicitly ruled out this review looking at creating any new taxes.

The findings of the review will support the Government’s views on the future funding of the BBC. Any final decision on reforming the BBC’s funding model would be taken at Charter Review.