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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that the (a) fees and (b) penalties relating to the funding of public broadcasting are (i) proportionate, (ii) balanced and (iii) provide good value for money in the context of changing trends in media consumption.

The UK has six public service broadcasters (PSBs). Only two of these – the BBC and S4C (the Welsh language broadcaster) – receive direct public funding.

The licence fee is the source of the overwhelming majority of this public funding. In January 2022, the government announced the licence fee settlement to the end of the current Charter period on 31 December 2027. The price of a TV licence will stay at £159 for two years, before rising in line with inflation from April 2024. The Government believes this settlement will give the BBC the money it needs to fulfil its mission and public purposes effectively, whilst making sure we support UK households through a difficult time and spend public money in a proportionate and balanced way. S4C also received a 9% increase in its funding to support the vital role it plays in supporting the Welsh economy, culture and society.

As set out in the recent broadcasting white paper, ‘Up Next’, the government wants to find a funding model which will allow the BBC and S4C to continue to succeed while also being fair to those who pay for it. This is why we need to consider the most fair and appropriate funding mechanism to be introduced at the end of the current Charter period.