THE BBC licence fee will rise by £10.50 to £169.50 a year, the Culture Secretary has confirmed.
The household payment, which funds much of the corporation’s operations, had been frozen at £159 and was set to rise in line with inflation next year.
However, the expected 9% increase – which would have meant an increase of around £15 from April 2024 – has been reduced, the Government said.
Speaking in the Commons on Thursday, Lucy Frazer said the increase will instead be based on September’s consumer prices index (CPI) rate of inflation which was 6.7%. This will mean an increase of £10.50 to £169.50 per year.
The news comes after the veteran TV executive Dr Samir Shah was named on Wednesday as the Government’s preferred candidate to become BBC chairman.
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Frazer told the Commons: “Under the terms of the settlement, the licence fee must now increase annually in line with CPI (consumer prices index rate of inflation), with the first increase due in April 2024.
“The Government is committed to supporting families as much as possible during these difficult times.
“We recognise bill rises are never welcome and family budgets remain under pressure.
“Today I am announcing that we will use the annual rate of CPI in September to calculate the increase of the BBC licence fee in April 2024.”
She stressed that the licence fee rise was being “kept as low as possible”.
Frazer added: “In April the licence fee will rise by 6.7% to £169.50 annually.
“This will minimise the rise for households, keeping it to £10.50 over the year, or 88p a month, rather than the rise of £14.50 which would have happened under the previous CPI measure.”
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