MPs back £3 rise in BBC licence fee

12 April 2012

MPs have voted against plans to waive the increase in this year's BBC television licence fee.

The price of a colour TV licence rose from £139.50 to £142.50 in April as part of a six-year settlement agreed in 2007.

The Conservatives argued the BBC needed to provide more for less in tough economic times, but were defeated in the Commons.

Shadow media secretary Jeremy Hunt said economic conditions in the country had "changed beyond recognition" and the £3 rise should be waived to help hard-pressed viewers. But the Tory bid to freeze the licence fee failed with a vote in the Commons ending 334 to 156 against the move.

Mr Hunt said ordinary people and rival broadcasters were struggling financially at a time when the BBC was receiving an inflation-busting rise in revenues. He said there needed to be a sensible balance between the revenue commercial broadcasters were able to raise and the BBC, adding: "Many will ask if that is possible if there is a £1 billion gap between state-funded broadcasters and the rest."

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said he "profoundly disagreed" with the Tory call, which challenged "the very basis on which the BBC has been funded over decades".

He said: "We do need to take care not to damage or destabilise one of the great British institutions respected and revered around the world."

Multi-year funding deals were important - "not just for the planning stability they bring but because they protect editorial independence and act as a bulwark against undue political inference".

Mr Burnham warned: "Make no mistake - the uncertainty this would create would be disastrous for the BBC and ultimately for licence fee payers. To instigate annual funding settlements would fundamentally alter its character, independence and impartiality, its relationship to Parliament and its role in public life."

Mr Burnham criticised Tory "meddling" in the BBC, and said they were seeking a "strategy to see the quality of TV news and broadcasting go right down".

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