A’household tax’ could replace BBC licence fee in the next ten years, the corporation’s chief Tony Hall has revealed .
Lord Hall, the BBC director-general, defended the £145.50 a year charge and insisted families would have to pay more if it was replaced with Sky-TV style subscription model.
But he admitted it could be replaced by a new way of funding the corporation, adding: ‘I’ll go along with the argument that’s it got 10 years life in it.’
Speaking on BBC1’s the Andrew Marr Show, Lord Hall said a ‘household tax’ – as proposed by the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee – was a ‘very interesting idea’ reported Daily Mail..
He added there is broad agreement for the licence fee to be reformed to ensure ‘everyone is paying equally for it and I would go along with that’.
Lord Hall said the type of reform is up to the Government to decide and the BBC to debate, adding: ‘It could be a household tax, I don’t know whether that works or not.
‘We suggested ways of reforming it so whatever way you consume and use BBC services you can pay for it and I think somewhere in there lies a solution.’
But he claimed the public were happy with the current set up.
He said : ‘Our audiences, when you ask them, actually think that the case for the licence fee as a method of funding the BBC has gone up and has not gone down. That’s really important.