Ministers have dropped plans to give benefit claimants free television licences after the proposal prompted a furious backlash, The i Paper can reveal.
The move had been considered as part of sweeping BBC reforms proposed by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.
A government review of the BBC’s Royal Charter had said ministers would look at the example of countries such as Germany which already offer free TV licences or discounts to those on “social benefits”.
UK ministers will now look at “further targeted interventions, such as new concessions or payment schedules” to help struggling households that have not keep up with their licence fee payments, which costs £174.50 a year.
Under the German system, those with disabilities, those receiving unemployment benefit, and asylum seekers are excused the €18.36 (£16) per month TV tax to support public service broadcasting.
A similar proposed exemption here, for the six million working-age people currently getting benefits, prompted an angry response.
Shadow Culture Secretary Nigel Huddleston said: “It would be outrageous if people claiming benefits were given free TV licences while hard-working people footed the bill.”
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It’s absurd to squeeze middle-class taxpayers harder while floating new licence fee exemptions for benefit claimants.”
BBC hit shows such as The Traitors will not be a free watch for households claiming benefits (Photo: BBC/Studio Lambert/Paul Chappells)The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has confirmed that ministers will not pursue the German model when a white paper setting out the Government’s detailed plans for the BBC is published this year.
A source told The i Paper: “Discussions are ongoing but we will not be proposing to give free licences to people on benefits.”
It’s likely that ministers will look at granting concessions, or reduced licence fees, to certain groups in society.
Some in the BBC support giving cut-price licences to students, an audience that the corporation is struggling to hold onto. Over-75s who claim pension credit currently qualify for a free licence.
Ads on the BBC and Netflix-style subscription
The DCMS pointed to a reply that media minister Stephanie Peacock gave to a Westminster Hall debate on the BBC’s Charter on Tuesday.
Peacock said: “We are not looking to expand free TV licences or give them free to those in receipt of benefits. An example from Germany was taken out of context from the green paper; I can be clear about that now.”
She also indicated that another controversial proposal floated by the Government, allowing the BBC to boost its income by carrying advertising, could also be rejected.
She noted “concerns about the potential for advertising on the BBC to impact commercial providers”. Ministers will “carefully consider the potential impacts” on ITV and Channel 4 of letting the BBC bid for advertising.
The Government still had an “open mind” on innovations which could “generate more commercial revenue [for the BBC], and how the licence fee could be reformed”, including introducing a Netflix-style subscription element.
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Former Conservative culture secretary Sir John Whittingdale warned: “If the BBC took advertising, I suspect one of the consequences would be that Channel 4 would immediately go bankrupt, because Channel 4 is still completely dependent on advertising for its income.”
Reform UK MP Lee Anderson said he did not pay the licence fee and his party would axe the mandatory charge, if it wins power. “It [the BBC] should be a subscription service, and then people can decide whether or not they watch it and whether or not they pay for it.
“I am not paying to subsidise the pensions of people like Huw Edwards. I challenge anybody in this room to find evidence of another broadcaster that has been riddled with as many scandals as the BBC”.
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