Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said "We recognise bill rises are never welcome and family budgets remain under pressure." Adding the fee was being "kept as low as possible". In a statement, the BBC said it was "focussed on providing great value, as well as programmes and services that audiences love".
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NewsTranscript
00:00 We've seen inflation lead to energy prices, house prices, food prices go through the roof.
00:05 We've seen frozen thresholds drag more and more people into higher tax bands.
00:10 We've seen counter-tax go up by 5% for most of the country and for more for parts of the
00:15 country.
00:16 And now we're seeing additional £10 on the licence fee.
00:19 BBC supporters argue the money goes towards making sure both a UK and global audience
00:23 has access to unbiased news and public programming.
00:27 Another commonly cited benefit is that of an advertisement-free service.
00:31 But critics believe there's another way.
00:33 First introduced back in 1923 as a radio licence, they claim the current system is overdue a
00:38 change to keep up with the likes of streaming platforms.
00:42 The licence fee is ultimately an outdated system.
00:44 It's a system that was built for the television network and the broadcasting systems of the
00:50 1930s, 40s and 50s.
00:53 Now that we have Netflix, Amazon Prime and all the other variety of entertainment services,
00:57 it's completely unnecessary and the BBC should be moving to a subscription-style service.
01:02 Yeah, absolutely.
01:03 But look, we've got to look on the other hand, the BBC, it's a huge employer, as you say.
01:07 It's one of those things that we've had going for a long, long time.
01:10 People are quite nostalgic for it as well.
01:12 If they are struggling to keep up with that spending because of inflation and other factors,
01:17 you know, people have already lost their job.
01:19 Is a rise perhaps justified?
01:21 No, I don't think a rise is justified.
01:24 The BBC likes to claim that it produces fantastic output, fantastic variety.
01:29 And critically, the BBC likes to claim that it's excellent value for money.
01:32 Well, if all of those things are true, then people frankly will stump up the money for
01:36 it.
01:37 People will stump up the cash.
01:39 They will pay for the services that they want and that they value.
01:42 And if they really do value the BBC as the BBC claims they do, then they will potentially
01:46 pay even more than the advertised price.
01:48 But what is absolutely wrong is for people that may not even like the BBC, maybe deeply
01:52 opposed to some of the BBC's content, they're being forced to pay for it under pain of potentially
01:57 prosecution, but even imprisonment.