By BBC licence fee to be abolished
The BBC licence fee is set to be abolished in 2021, according to the latest reports.
This comes after it was announced the broadcaster’s funding would be frozen for the next two years.
The cost of an annual licence, which is currently required to watch television and access iPlayer services, will remain at £159 until 2024.
It is then expected to increase for the following three years, before being scrapped altogether.
The decision has been confirmed by government sources, and a formal announcement is expected to be made by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries in the coming days.
Speaking via Twitter, Dorries said: “This licence fee announcement will be the last.
“The days of the elderly being threatened with prison sentences and bailiffs knocking on doors are over.
“Time now to discuss and debate new ways of funding, supporting and selling great British content.”
Money raised from the licence fee pays for BBC shows and services – including TV, radio, the BBC website, podcasts, iPlayer and apps.
The service is expected to make significant cuts as a result of the decision.
Speaking to Times Radio, she added:
“Let’s not get away from the fact that this so-called announcement, which was on Twitter yesterday, which is effectively the end of the BBC as we know it.
“A huge policy announcement, is nothing more than a really obvious, pathetic distraction from a prime minister and a government who has run out of road and whose leadership is hanging by a thread.”
Negotiations are already underway between the BBC and the government over a future funding settlement.
